Yahor Viarshynin

former police officer, sentenced to 2 years in prison

Date of birth: 20 May 1990

Date of detention: 11 June 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 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Date of release: 10 June 2023

Judge: Dzmitryi Karsiuk

Prosecutor: Artsiom Tsviatkou

Yahor Viarshynin is a former police investigator charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code, "organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them."

He was arrested on June 11, 2021 and placed in custody in a pre-trial detention center.

On October 8, 2021, the Centraĺny District Court of Minsk sentenced Viarshynin to two years in a general-security penal colony, finding him guilty under Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (“actions that grossly violate public order”).

Who are former law enforcers persecuted for speaking out against Lukashenka

Last May Lukashenka stripped of military and special ranks more than 80 former officers of law enforcement bodies, who joined the independent association of security forces ByPOL or supported protests. Viasna collected names of former law enforcement and military officers who spoke out against Lukashenka's regime and who are persecuted by the state. Most of them are recognized as political prisoners.

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