Andrei Shunkevich
sentenced to 2 1/2 years of imprisonment
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 24 April 1988
Date of detention: 30 September 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
- Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Alena Kartavenka
Cases: Protests in Minsk, The Zeltser case
Andrei Shunkevich was arrested in Minsk as a defendant in a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 130 ('Incitement of social enmity'), Part 1 of Art. 342 ('Organization and preparation of actions grossly disrupting public order, or active participation in them'), Part 1 of Art. 368 ('Contempt of the president of Belarus'), and Art. 369 ('Contempt of a public official') of the Criminal Code.
After the arrest, he was placed in the pre-trial detention center on Akrescina street. Then he was transferred to remand prison #1 in Minsk. In early February 2023, he was transferred to Prison #4 in Mahilioŭ.
On February 10, 2023, the Mahilioŭ Regional Court issued the verdict to the political prisoner. He was accused of participating in the protest March on August 16, 2020, and posting offensive comments about law enforcers, pro-government activists and Lukashenka. Judge Alena Kartavenka convicted him under the four articles of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to two and a half years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. Besides, his mobile phone and the system unit of his personal computer were confiscated as "the means of committing the crimes".
