Dzmitryi Yurtayeu
sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 5 May 1978
Date of detention: 21 September 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
- Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 11 July 2023
Date of release: 15 June 2024
Judge: Anzhela Kastsiukevich
Prosecutor: Khalapka
Groups: Cultural workers, Teachers
Cases: Protests in Minsk
Dzmitryi Yurtayeu is a children's poet and novelist, the winner of the Writers for Children competition and a teacher at the private Smart School in Minsk.
Yurtayeu was arrested on September 21, 2022, by GUBAZiK (Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption). In the "penitential" video, they forced him to read out his poems and confess that he took part in the rallies in August 2020 and posted messages on the Facebook and VKontakte social networks. Pro-government media showed screenshots from his pages on social networks criticizing the actions of the authorities.
At first, Dzmitryi Yurtayeu was arrested twice on administrative charges. A couple of days before the end of the arrest, criminal proceedings were started against him under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code ('Contempt of the president of Belarus'). Later it became known that he was also accused under Part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code ('Incitement to other social hatred or enmity').
Yurtayeu was placed in remand prison #1 in Minsk.
The trial of the political prisoner began on April 14, 2023, in the Minsk City Court. Judge Anzhela Kastsiukevich heard the case.
On April 29, 2023, Dzmitryi Yurtayeu was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
On July 11, 2023, in the Supreme Court, Judge Tatsiana Vasilevich heard the appeal of the political prisoner.
Dzmitryi Yurtayeu is serving his sentence in penal colony #3 in Vićba, Viciebsk region.
