Dzmitry Hryshchanka
"Belarusnafta" employee
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 21 November 1991
Date of detention: 14 May 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: 3 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 8 December 2023
Judge: Viktar Kazachak
Prosecutor: Aleynikava
Groups: Government employees
Cases: Protests in Homieĺ
Dzmitry Hryshchanka is a Belorusneft employee based in Homieĺ. He was detained on May 14, 2021 and placed in a remand prison, later transferred to a pre-trial detention center.
Dzmitry, along with several other company employees, took part in the recording of a video appeal against police violence. In late October 2020, he recorded another video for TUT.BY, calling on his co-workers and the management of Belorusneft not to be silent about the situation and openly state their position. A couple of weeks before his detention, his apartment was searched as part of an investigation into alleged insult (no charges were eventually brought.
On January 3, the court of the Central District of Homieĺ sentenced Dzmitry Hryshchanka to 3 years in prison for organizing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code).
