Yuzef Niamera
served full term, released
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 12 December 1957
Date of detention: 27 May 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
- Art. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 15 July 2022
Judge: Kulesh, Bubenchyk, Rachynski
Prosecutor: Anton Shalkovich
Notes: Retirement age
Yuzef Niamera is a pensioner based in Hrodna.
He was initially sentenced to two and a half years of "home confinement". However, the sentence was later upgraded to 1 year and 6 months in prison.
Niamera faced charges under two articles of the Criminal Code: Art. 342 (organization or active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order) and Art. 364 (violence or threat of violence against a police officer). Niamera took part in a protest in Hrodna on September 6, 2020 and defended a woman from riot police. He pushed one of the policemen. This was the reason for initiating the case. He was in detention prior to the first trial, which took place in November 2020.
In January 2021, the Hrodna Regional Court reconsidered the case after the prosecutor filed an appeal, but the decision was upheld. In March, the Hrodna Regional Prosecutor's Office again appealed the decision, which was overturned and the case remanded for retrial. As a result, Niamera was sentenced to 18 months in a general-security penal colony.
The political prisoner served his sentence in full and was released on July 15, 2022.
