Yauhen Zashchytau
sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 7 January 2001
Date of detention: 20 November 2020
Charges indicted:
- Art. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
- Art. 411 — Malicious disobedience to the demands of administration of the correctional institution
Sentence: 3 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a high security prison
Date of release: 1 February 2024
Judge: Natallia Kachalava
Prosecutor: Maryna Panchyk
Notes: Prison security level
Cases: Protests in Žlobin
Yauhen Zashchytau from Žlobin (Homieĺ region) was sentenced to three years in a maximum-security penal colony under Article 364 of the Criminal Code ('Violence against a police officer').
Initially, Zashchytau was facing charges of 'organizing or actively participating in group actions grossly disrupting public order' (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code) but the investigation was unable to gather the necessary evidence. The case stemmed from the events in Žlobin on August 9, 2020, when people protested against the rigged presidential election.
On April 2, 2021, judge Natallia Kachalava sentenced Yauhen Zashchytau to three years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
In June 2022, the punishment level was changed from imprisonment in a penal colony to imprisonment in a maximum-security prison. Before that, Zashchytau was placed in a punishment cell for 70 days and then transferred to a tighter-security cell for two months.
On 22 June 2022, he was transferred from Penal Colony #1 in Navapolack to Prison #4 in Mahilioŭ.
On July 13, 2023, the political prisoner was sentenced to 6 more months of imprisonment under Article 411 of the Criminal Code ('Willful disobedience to penal facility administration').
Yauhen Zashchytau is serving his sentence in penal colony #8 in Orša, Viciebsk region.
He was released on February 1, 2024.
