Hleb Hladkouski
organizer of aerial photography; sentenced to 5 years of penal colony
Date of birth: 6 May 1985
Date of detention: 30 September 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 198 of the Criminal Code — Obstruction of a journalist lawful professional activity
Sentence: 5 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 5 May 2023
Judge: Sviatlana Charapanava
Prison: Penal colony No. 1
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Hleb Hladkouski is a well-known organizer of quadcopter aerial photography. He was detained in Brest for publishing comments on the Internet in connection with the deaths of the IT worker Andrei Zeltser and KGB agent Dzmitry Fedasiuk.
It is known that Hladkouski was charged under Part 1 of Art. 368 ('Insulting the president of Belarus'), Art. 198 ('Obstructing legitimate professional activity of a journalist'), Part 3 of Art. 361 ('Calls for restrictive measures (sanctions), other actions aimed at harming national security of Belarus'), and Part 1 of Art. 130 of the Criminal Code ('Inciting other social enmity or hatred').
On November 8, 2022, the trial began in the City Court of Minsk. According to human rights defenders, the court was adjourned because the political prisoner was sent for a psychiatric examination. On January 30, 2023, the trial resumed.
On February 1, 2023, Judge Sviatlana Charapanava sentenced Hladkouski to five years of imprisonment in a general security penal colony.
