Ihar Kapanaika
retired military officer, sentenced to 1 1/2 years, released
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 2 May 1965
Date of detention: 27 November 2020
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Part 1 of Art. 339 of the Criminal Code — Hooliganism
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 12 March 2022
Judge: Alena Bushava
Prosecutor: Alesia Hretskaya
Notes: Foreign citizens, Retirement age
Cases: Protests in Minsk
Groups: The military
Ihar Kapanaika is a citizen of the Russian Federation with a residence permit in Belarus, a retired military officer.
On November 13, 2020, the 55-year-old man used construction foam to seal the door of the apartment owned by a police officer, press officer of the Centraĺny District Police Department of Minsk Tatsiana Aboznaya. He then did the same to the door lock and the mailbox.
In addition, according to the Investigative Committee, Kapanaika wrote a phrase on the mailbox that publicly insulted the officer.
The man was charged under Art. 339 (hooliganism) and Art. 369 of the Criminal Code (Insulting a government official).
Ihar Kapanaika said he did this after he read a false statement on the death of Raman Bandarenka. He said the statement alleging that Bandarenka was drunk was shared by the police officer, which she denied.
On February 16, Judge Alena Bushava sentenced Kapanaika to one and a half years in prison.
Ihar Kapanaika served his sentence in full. On March 12, 2022, he was released and brought to the border with Russia for deportation.
