Dzmitryi Miadzvetski
Date of birth: 29 March 1988
Date of detention: 2 September 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 309 of the Criminal Code — Intentional disrepair of a vehicle or communication lines
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 11 May 2023
Judge: Natallia Loban
Prison: Penal colony No. 3
Dzmitryi Miadzvetski was accused of organizing and preparing actions grossly violating public order, damaging communication lines, and insulting Lukashenka.
Miadzvetski was detained on September 2, 2022. On September 6, 2022, a "repentant" video with him was published. In the video, he says that in 2020 he actively posted messages in the Lida 97% local protest chat room. Besides, he wrote about his actions in the Peramoha plan.
According to the law enforcement officers, Miadzvetski called for a strike, protests, and suggested organizing sabotage on the railway.
Miadzvetski was accused under three articles of the Criminal Code:
- Part 1 of Art. 309 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus ('Intentional damage to a vehicle or communication lines')
- Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code ('Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them')
- Part 1 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting Lukashenka)
The trial lasted one day. On November 14, 2022, the Lida District Court (Hrodna region) issued a verdict. The judge Natallia Loban found Miadzvetski guilty and sentenced him to three (3) years of imprisonment in a penal colony.