Artsiom Zubrakou
sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
Date of birth: 9 November 1990
Date of detention: 29 September 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 203-1 of the Criminal Code — Illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data
Sentence: 5 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Alena Bachyshcha
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Benedetto Della Vedova, Member of the Italian Parliament
Artsiom Zubrakou is an employee of the Belagro holding who was arrested in late September 2022 together with his colleagues. Criminal cases were opened against four of them, and about 20 of them were detained. Pro-government sources reported the company's employees to have been actively protesting since 2020. During the search in the fall of 2022, white-red-white accessories and furniture were seized.
On January 27, 2023, Artsiom Zubrakou was sentenced to five years imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. He was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 130 ('Inciting racial, national, religious or other social hatred or enmity') and Part 3 of Article 203-1 ('Illegal actions regarding privacy information and personal data') of the Criminal Code. Judge Alena Bachyshcha tried the case in the Minsk Regional Court, behind closed doors.
On April 4, 2023, the Supreme Court heard an appeal against the verdict. Artsiom Zubrakou was transferred from remand prison #1 in Minsk to prison #4 in Mahilioŭ.
