Mikalai Bredzeleu
A1 spokesperson, sentenced to 4 years
Prisoner
Date of birth: 29 April 1987
Date of detention: 10 December 2021
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
Prison sentence start date: 28 February 2023
Judge: Alena Ananich
Prosecutor: Raman Biziuk
Prison: Penal colony No. 22
Groups: Journalists
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen, Member of Dutch Parliament
Mikalai Bredzeleu is the press secretary of "A1" company.
Mikalai was detained on December 10, 2021, and sentenced to administrative arrest, but wasn't released after serving his sentence and continues to be held in a detention center.
The political prisoner is charged with ‘abuse of power or official authority’ and ‘financing the activities of an extremist group’ under Part 2 of Article 424 and Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code. It is known that he will be tried for "financing of an extremist formation" under an amended article.
On August 29, 2022, a closed-door trial commenced in the Minsk Municipal Court. On October 24, Judge Alena Ananich found Bredzeleu guilty of ‘backing the activities of an extremist formation’ (Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code), namely giving financial support to blogger Anton Matolka. However, Bredzeleu was cleared from charges of ‘power abuse’ under Part 2 of Article 424 of the Criminal Code, as the prosecution failed to provide enough evidence of his participation in the crime. As the result, the political prisoner was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
