Dzmitry Ravich
sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment
Prisoner
Date of birth: 26 August 1988
Date of detention: 4 March 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
- Art. 356 of the Criminal Code — High treason
- Art. 309 of the Criminal Code — Intentional disrepair of a vehicle or communication lines
- Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
Sentence: 22 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 26 April 2023
Judge: Anatol Sotnikau
Prison: Penal colony No. 15
Cases: Rail sabotage
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Dzmitry Ravich is from Svietlahorsk. He was detained on March 4 in Svietlahorsk for setting fire to a relay cabinet at the Žerdź-Astankavičy station on February 28, which made the traffic lights and railroad switches on this section inoperable. The Astankavičy-Žerdź section is on the Žlobin-Kalinkavičy line, which then continues to Ovruch (Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine).
He was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus:
- Art. 361-1 ('Participation in an extremist formation')
- Art. 289 ('An act of terrorism committed as part of an organized group, entailing grave consequences, creating a threat of death and causing bodily harm to people');
- Parts 2 and 4 of Art. 309 ('Deliberate bringing into disrepair of communication lines, entailing grave consequences and a threat of collapse, accident and death of people');
- Art. 356 ('Treason against the state').
On June 17, 2022, the KGB included Ravich in the 'List of persons involved in terrorist activities'.
The trial of the 'Svietlahorsk partisans' case began on September 27, 2022 in the Homieĺ Regional Court. The trial was conducted behind closed doors by Judge Anatol Sotnikau.
On December 27, 2022, the verdict was announced: Dzmitry Ravich was sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.
On March 31, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeal and upheld the verdict.
