Artsiom Kasakouski
optician, sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison
Date of birth: 14 June 1998
Date of detention: 27 September 2020
Charges indicted:
Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code — Participation in riots
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Art. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
Art. 341 of the Criminal Code — Desecration of structures and damage to property
Sentence: 6 1/5 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Dzmitry Astapenka, Aliaksandr Mishurau
Prosecutor: Aliaksandr Ramanovich
Prison: Penal colony No. 1
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Viola von Cramon, member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs
Artsiom Kasakouski is an optician from Lida. He was detained on September 27, 2020 in Minsk as part of the "mass riots" criminal case.
He was later charged under Art. 293 of the Criminal Code.
On July 19, 2021, Judge Dzmitry Astapenka sentenced Kasakouski to five years in a medium-security penal colony.
On May 19, 2022, a new criminal case against Artsiom was heard in the Lida District Court. This time he has been tried for participating in the protests in Lida in August 2020. He is charged under three articles of the Criminal Code: Article 341 (desecration of buildings and damage to property), Part 1 of Article 342 (active participation in actions that grossly violate public order), Article 364 (violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies). Artsiom pleaded guilty, but explained that he drew white-red-white flags at bus stops, so that “people wouldn't forget”.
The prosecutor asked for another 18 months of imprisonment for the political prisoner. Judge Aliaksandr Mishurau sustained the prosecutor's request on May 23, 2022. In total, the 23-year-old political prisoner was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.