Dzmitry Hopta
sentenced to 2 years in prison
Date of birth: 28 October 1999
Date of detention: 5 February 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. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 31 December 2022
Judge: Iryna Pradun
Prosecutor: Andrei Anoshka
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Charlie Flanagan, Irish MP
Dzmitry Hopta is a resident of Homieĺ convicted for the events of August 9 and 10 in Žlobin. Hopta suffers from a mental disorder.
Dzmitry Hopta was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: Part 1 of Art. 342 (Organization or active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order) and Art. 364 (Violence or threat of violence against a police officer). He fully admitted his guilt (as advised by the court-appointed lawyer), saying that he threw a stone and ran away.
On February 5, 2021, the man was sentenced to 2 years in a penal colony.
On April 2, the Homieĺ Regional Court upheld the sentence.
