Dzmitryi Pankevich
sentenced to 3 years of restricted freedom
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 13 April 1976
Date of detention: 14 September 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Art. 391 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a judge
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: restricted freedom in an open penal facility ("khimiya")
Date of release: 16 September 2024
Judge: Volha Niaborskaya
Prosecutor: Ulyana Kakhniuk
Dzmitryi Pankevich is 46 years old. He has three minor children.
Pankevich was found guilty under Article 369 ('Contempt of a public official') and Article 391 ('Contempt of a judge') of the Criminal Code. He was in custody for three days, from September 14 to 16, 2022.
On February 15, 2023, in the Kastryčnicki District Court of Minsk, Judge Volha Niaborskaya sentenced Dzmitryi Pankevich to three years of freedom restriction with a referral to an open-type penal facility. Senior prosecutor assistant of Kastryčnicki District, Ulyana Kakhniuk, supported the state prosecution.
Besides, Dzmitryi Pankevich is to pay 22,000 Belarusian rubles (approx. $7,486) in compensation for moral damages to the victims, with 999 rubles ($340) of the state tax. Until the convict pays the compensation, his property—garage, cell phone, car—has been seized.
On April 7, 2023, Dzmitryi Pankevich was included in the 'List of Belarusian citizens, foreign citizens, and stateless persons involved in extremist activities'.
Since April 20, 2023, Pankevich has been serving his sentence in open-type penal facility #49 in Škloŭ, Mahilioŭ region. After his arrival, he was immediately put on record as "prone to extremism and destructive activity".
