Yuliya Yurhilevich
lawyer, sentenced to 6 years in prison
Prisoner
Date of birth: 1 September 1980
Date of detention: 30 August 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code — Promoting extremist activities
Sentence: 6 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Maksim Filatau
Prosecutor: Dzmitryi Sinila
Prison: Penal colony No. 4
Notes: Detention upon return to Belarus
Groups: Lawyers and attorneys
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Laura Kraft, Member of the German Bundestag
Yuliya Yurhilevich is a lawyer. She defended many political prisoners and was disbarred in February 2022. Yurhilevich was arrested in late August 2022 upon her return to Belarus from Poland.
On July 10, 2023, the Hrodna Regional Court started the trial of the political prisoners Yuliya Yurhilevich and Pavel Mazheika. They were accused under Part 2 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code ('Other facilitation of extremist activities, committed repeatedly by a group of persons based on a previous conspiracy'). Judge Maksim Filatau considered the case.
On July 26, 2023, Yuliya Yurhilevich was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. The journalist Pavel Mazheika was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony. Both the political prisoners pleaded not guilty. Yuliya Yurhilevich claimed that she was kept in inhuman conditions and was not allowed to read her case file.
