Ihar Laptanovich
sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison
Date of birth: 7 August 1987
Date of detention: 24 March 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 8 June 2023
Judge: Vera Filonik
Prosecutor: Henadz Bury, Vadzim Bahatka
Ihar Laptanovich is a construciton worker and activist based in Pružany. He is a defendant in the "dancing protest case", which was opened after the events of September 13, 2020.
Ihar was initially free, but named a suspect in this case (under Article 342 of the Criminal Code, "active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order"). On March 24, 2021, he was remanded in custody in pre-trial detention center No. 7.
Laptanovich's wife is also a defendant in the case. She was under a written undertaking not to leave the country. The family has three children.
On August 4, 2021, judge Vera Filonik of the Maskoŭski District Court of Brest sentenced Laptanovich to two and a half years in a penal colony.
