Dzmitryi Lahodzich
sentenced to 3 1/2 years of imprisonment
Former political prisoner
Date of birth: 4 November 1991
Date of detention: 30 September 2021
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: 3 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 10 March 2023
Date of release: 6 August 2024
Judge: Mikalai Sianko
Prosecutor: Maryia Bialt
Cases: The Zeltser case
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Dzmitry Lahodzich was detained in Brest for publishing comments on the Internet in connection with the deaths of IT worker Andrei Zeltser and KGB agent Dzmitry Fedasiuk.
Lahodzich was initially charged with ‘insulting a government official’ under Article 369 of the Criminal Code. But eventually, he was accused of ‘insulting the president‘ under Part 1 and part 2 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code and ‘inciting social hatred’ under Part 1 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code.
On November 4, 2022, the Brest Regional Court found the political prisoner guilty and sentenced him to three and a half years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
