Darya Afanasyeva
feminist activist, sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail
Date of birth: 1 April 1995
Date of detention: 28 December 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 30 March 2024
Judge: Anastasiya Achalava
Darya Afanasievа is a feminist activist and blogger. She ran an educational channel on Instagram, where she talked about sexism and feminism. Her account with about 10,000 followers was deleted. Before her detention, she worked as an HR manager.
Afanasievа was sentenced to two years and six months in a general-security penal colony under Article 342 of the Criminal Code ('Group acts grossly violating public order').
In early June 2022, she was transferred from remand prison #1 in Minsk to remand prison #3 in Homieĺ.
On June 21, 2022, her appeal was considered: the sentence was upheld. The political prisoner was transferred to penal colony #4 in Homieĺ.
Daria Afanasievа has asthma, therefore she started having problems with her bronchi because of working with non-natural tissues in the penal colony. It is reported that her back hurts a lot due to the spring beds in the colony.
