Kiryl Klimau
sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 11 September 1984
Date of detention: 23 February 2023
Charges indicted:
Art. 361-2 of the Criminal Code — Financing the activities of an extremist group
Sentence: 4 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Liubou Simakhina
Prison: Penal colony No. 15
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Andreas Schieder
Kiryl Klimau is 38 years old. He worked for many years at the Academy of Sciences and then in private firms. He was arrested on the morning of February 23, 2023, when he was going to work. His house was searched.
At first, Kiryl Klimau was arrested for 15 days, after which he was not released. He was accused of making six donations of ten dollars each to By_help, BYSOL, and other initiatives through the Facebook fundraising payment system from June 2020 to May 2021. Kiryl Klimau pleaded not guilty. He did not deny the transfer of funds but explained that he had donated to help the repressed.
On June 26, 2023, in the Minsk City Court, Kiryl Klimau was convicted under Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code ('Financing of activities of an extremist formation'). Judge Liubou Simakhina sentenced him to four years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
