Darya Losik
Activist; sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in penal colony
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 30 November 1991
Date of detention: 18 October 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code — Promoting extremist activities
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 2 April 2023
Date of release: 3 July 2024
Judge: Mikalai Hryharovich
Prosecutor: Katsiaryna Pakala
Notes: Pardon / amnesty
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Robin Wagener, Member of the German Bundestag
Darya Losik is married to the blogger and political prisoner Ihar Losik. Since her husband's arrest, she has been fighting for his release, including speaking internationally.
She was arrested on October 18, 2022, after her apartment was searched.
Darya Losik was accused of ‘facilitating extremism’ (Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code) for an April 2022 interview given to the Belsat TV channel, recognized as an extremist formation by the Belarusian authorities.
In early December 2022, the Brest region prosecutor's office sent her case to court. According to the case file materials, Darya Losik gave an interview to the Belsat 'extremist formation', "in which she positioned herself as the wife of a political prisoner. She gave a negative personal assessment of the state bodies whose competence includes the implementation of criminal prosecution and justice. At the same time, she said that her husband had not committed criminal acts and was convicted illegally. She called on the relatives of other convicts to follow her example".
The trial began on January 18, 2023, in the Brest Regional Court. At the first court session, the prosecutor Katsiaryna Pakala asked for 24 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony for Darya Losik—the very punishment imposed by Judge Mikalai Hryharovich on January 19. Darya Losik fully admitted her guilt at the trial.
In mid-February 2023, Darya Losik was transferred from remand prison #7 in Brest to remand prison #6 in Baranavičy.
On March 21, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeal and dismissed it. Soon the political prisoner was transferred to women's penal colony #4 in Homieĺ.
Darya Losik reportedly arrested in Minsk
