Ilona Zaitsava
nurse, sentenced to 3 years of freedom restriction
Date of birth: 20 August 1998
Date of detention: 31 October 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: restricted freedom under home confinement ("domashnyaya khimiya")
Judge: Aliaksandr Rudenka
In November 2022, pro-government Telegram channels reported the arrest of two friends, the 25-year-old Dzianis Pishchala and the 24-year-old Ilona Zaitsava. In the 'repentant' video, Ilona Zaitsava "confesses" to participating in protest actions and reposting from "extremist channels".
In the winter of 2021, Zaitsava was convicted under Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences ('Violation of the procedure for organizing or holding mass events') and sentenced to 70 base fines (approx. USD 740). She works as a nurse at the Minsk Clinical Center for Phthisiopulmonology.
The case of the political prisoner was tried on February 17, 2023, in the Kastryčnicki District Court of Minsk. Judge Aliaksandr Rudenka sentenced Ilona Zaitsava to three years of freedom restriction under home confinement. Ilona was released from custody in the courtroom.
