Mikalai Autukhovich
entrepreneur, activist, sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 7 January 1963
Date of detention: 1 December 2020
Charges indicted:
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 295 of the Criminal Code — Unlawful acts against firearms, ammunition and explosives
Art. 357 of the Criminal Code — Conspiracy to seize power in an unconstitutional way
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 356 of the Criminal Code — High treason
Art. 295-3 of the Criminal Code — Illegal actions in relation to objects which action is based on use of combustible substances
Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
Part 1 of Art. 285 of the Criminal Code - Creation of a criminal organization or its leadership
Art. 290 of the Criminal Code — Threat to commit an act of terrorism
Art. 333-1 of the Criminal Code — Illegal cross-border transportation of poisonous, poisonous substances, radioactive materials, weapons, military equipment
Sentence: 25 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 31 March 2023
Judge: Maksim Filatau
Prosecutor: Liudmila Herasimenka, Rabau
Prison: Prison No. 1
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Paul Galles, Member of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies
Mikalai Autukhovich is a veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, an entrepreneur, and a public figure.
He was convicted under 10 articles of the Criminal Code:
- Creating a criminal organization and taking part in it (Part 3 of Article 285)
- Attempted seizure of state power by unconstitutional means’ (Part 1 of Article 14 and Part 2 of Article 357)
- High treason (Part 1 of Article 356)
- Incitement to hatred (Part 3 of Article 130)
- Calls for actions/sanctions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus (Part 3 of Article 361)
- Attempt to engage in terrorist activities (Part 1 of Article 290-2)
- An act of terrorism and preparation for it (Part 3 of Article 289)
- Unlawful acts in relation to firearms, ammunition, and explosives (Part 4 of Article 295)
- Illegal transportation of firearms, ammunition, explosives, explosive devices across the customs border of the EEU and the State Border of the Republic of Belarus’ (Part 3 of Article 333-1)
- Illegal actions in relation to objects which action is based on the use of combustible substances (Part 1 of Article 295-3)
On October 17, 2022, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to 25 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony. According to the indictments, he will serve the first five years in a maximum-security prison, and the rest of his term in a penal colony. He was also fined 32,000 Belarusian rubles ($12,600) and stripped of his rank of retired Chief Warrant Officer.
Judge Maksim Filatau considered the case. Deputy chair of the prosecutor's office Liudmila Herasimenka and senior assistant prosecutor Rabau represented the state prosecution at the trial. The people's assessors were Stavorka, Zhdanovich, and Nichypor.
On October 20, 2022, Autukhovich was placed in a punishment cell for a week. The reasons are unknown.
On March 31, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeals of the defendants in the "Autukhovich case". Autukhovich's sentence remained unchanged.
On May 12, 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs included Autukhovich in the List of citizens of Belarus, foreign citizens or stateless persons involved in extremist activities.
It is known that in the past year Mikalai Autukhovich did not receive a single parcel that was sent to him by his relatives.
Mikalai Autukhovich gets 25 years in jail, members of his ‘group’—up to 20
Mikalai Autukhovich to be tried under ten articles of the Criminal Code
