Mikhail Antsipau
sentenced to 1 1/2 years of imprisonment
Date of detention: 5 April 2023
Charges indicted:
Art. 370 of the Criminal Code — Desecration of state symbols
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Tatsiana Shyman
Mikhail Antsipau is a 20-year-old citizen of Ukraine who has a residence permit in Belarus. He came to Belarus about 10 years ago, received a free education and temporarily worked at one of the enterprises in the Minsk region.
Antsipau was accused of 'desecrating the state symbols' (Article 370 of the Criminal Code). There is an unusual circumstance in his case–it was his mother who reported the damage to the red-green state flags to the police.
According to the investigation, on the night of March 20, 2023, Antsipau tore down four state flags in the agricultural town of Lošnica. He tore the flags, broke the poles, filmed his actions with his phone and posted the photo on his page on a social network.
On June 23, 2023, in the Barysaŭ District Court, judge Tatsiana Shyman sentenced Mikhail Antsipau to 18 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
