Dzmitryi Lazar
sentenced to 2 1/2 years of imprisonment
Political prisoner
Date of birth: 7 May 1980
Date of detention: 11 November 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
- Art. 391 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a judge
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Dzianis Bareika, Mikalai Talashka
Prosecutor: Yuliya Zhuk
Prison: Penal colony No. 15
Dzmitryi Lazar is 38 years old. He has a higher education and works as a driver in a private company. He has six children, three of whom are minors. One of his children is two years old.
Lazar was detained on November 11, 2022 and placed in custody for posting offensive comments against several public officials in a Telegram chat room.
Prosecutor Zhana Baranava asked the court to recover 2,000 Belarusian rubles (approx. $ 700) from Lazar as material compensation for non-pecuniary damage, which she intended to transfer to an orphanage. Police major Martsul asked for 1,500 Belarusian rubles (approx. $ 525). Dzmitryi Lazar paid off the claimed amounts immediately after they were announced.
After the compensation for non-pecuniary damage was paid to them, Baranava and Martsul withdrew their claims against Lazar.
On March 2, 2023, the Maladziečna District Court convicted Dzmitryi Lazar under Art. 391 ('Contempt of a judge or a people's assessor'), Art. 369 ('Contempt of a governmemt official'), and Part 1 of Art. 368 ('Contempt of the president of Belarus') of the Criminal Code. Judge Dzianis Bareika sentenced him to two years and six months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony and a fine of 3,700 Belarusian rubles (approx. $ 1295). Prosecutor assistant Yuliya Zhuk supported the state prosecution.
The present location of Dzmitryi Lazar is to be specified.
