Ivan Viarbitski
sentenced to 8 years and 1 month in prison
Prisoner
Date of birth: 17 July 1965
Date of detention: 21 October 2020
Charges indicted:
- Art. 295 of the Criminal Code — Unlawful acts against firearms, ammunition and explosives
- Art. 377 of the Criminal Code — Destruction of official documents
- Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
- Art. 411 — Malicious disobedience to the demands of administration of the correctional institution
Sentence: 10 years and 1 month
Penalty: imprisonment in a high security prison
Judge: Liudmila Piatrova, Tatsiana Kastsiuk, Mikalai Hladki, Liudmila Zinkevich
Prosecutor: Siarhei Kavalchuk
Prison: Pre-trial detention center No. 8
Groups: Cultural workers
Notes: Prison security level
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Ivan Viarbitski is from Haĺšany, Hrodna region. He has two higher educations. He worked as a designer, a cartoonist, a director, and a video editor. He draws pictures and writes short stories.
Viarbitski was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code: 'incitement to an act of terrorism' (Part 1 of Article 289), 'illegal acquisition and storage of ammunition and explosives' (Article 295), and 'destruction of official documents' (Part 1 of Article 377).
According to the case file, on 14 October 2020, with an intention to destabilize public order, Ivan Viarbitski posted text messages in a Telegram chat room, which contained calls to damage the KGB building with Molotov cocktails, to set fire to the Prosecutor's Office of the Ašmiany district (Hrodna region), and to damage and destroy the property of law enforcement officers by setting their vehicles on fire. During the search of his home, the police officers found and seized ammunition and explosives.
On March 15, 2021, Viarbitski was sentenced to eight years and one month of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.
Later, the punishment level for him was changed to a maximum-security prison. He is serving his sentence in Prison #4 in Mahilioŭ.
On June 16, 2022, the KGB added Ivan Viarbitski to their 'List of persons involved in terrorist activities'.
On December 19, 2022, in the Lieninsky District Court of Mahilioŭ, Judge Tatsiana Kastsiuk tried the case against the political prisoner under Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code ('Willful disobedience to the requirements of the penitentiary administration'). The details of the sentence are to be specified.
On March 14, 2023, Judge Mikalai Hladki was to consider the case of Ivan Viarbitski under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code ('Willful disobedience to the requirements of the penitentiary administration').
He is serving his sentence in penal colony No. 14, in Navasady, Minsk region.
On February 23, 2024 he was added to the "list of extremists" by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On May 8, 2024, Ivan was again tried under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code. The case was considered by Judge Liudmila Zinkevich, who added 2 years to the political prisoner for "malicious disobedience". It is known that Ivan is not allowed to have a lawyer.
Since July 2024 the political prisoner is detained in the investigative prison № 8.
