Andrei Chapiuk
Viasna volunteer
Date of birth: 17 May 1996
Date of detention: 2 October 2020
Charges indicted:
Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code - Participation in riots
Part 2 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code - Participation in a criminal organization in any other form
Prison: Pre-trial detention center No. 1
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Katrin Göring-Eckardt, leader of the Bündnis90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the German Bundestag
Andrei Chapiuk, a Viasna volunteer, was detained on October 2 in Minsk by GUBAZIK officers. All his activities were exclusively peaceful and aimed at helping people who suffer for their political views and beliefs. On October 9, Andrei was charged under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code, "participation in riots."
On January 28, the authorities said that Chapiuk, as well as other political prisoners Aliaksandr Frantskevich and Akikhiro Hayeuski-Hanada, were targeted in a new criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code, "participation in a criminal organization in any other form."