Andrei Kudzik
activist, sentenced to 2 years in prison, released after serving full sentence
Date of birth: 27 November 1984
Date of detention: 9 August 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
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 18 July 2023
Judge: Aleh Kaliada
Prison: Pre-trial detention center No. 8
Andrei Kudzik is an activist from Viliejka, Minsk region, who was repeatedly persecuted—detained, fined, arrested—for picketing and expressing his civil position throughout 2020 and 2021. On August 9, 2021, he was detained again and sentenced to a total of 90 days of administrative arrest, which he served in the unbearable conditions of the detention centers in Viliejka and Smaliavičy (Minsk region). After the arrest, Andrei Kudzik was never released. He was transferred to the detention center on Akrescina Street and then to remand prison #1, both in Minsk.
On October 20, 2021, it became known that he was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code ('Organization and preparation of actions grossly disrupting public order or active participation in them').
On February 16, 2022, in the Zavodski District Court of Minsk, Judge Aleh Kaliada sentenced Andrei Kudzik to 24 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony—the very punishment requested by the prosecutor. At the trial, Andrei Kudzik pleaded not guilty and refused to testify.
In mid-April 2022, he was transferred from remand prison #1 in Minsk to prison #4 in Mahilioŭ. From May 21, 2022, Andrei Kudzik was serving his sentence in penal colony #15 in Mahilioŭ.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs included the political prisoner in their 'List of persons involved in extremist activities'.
On July 18, 2023, the political prisoner was released having served his full sentence.