Mikhail Makarau
lawyer, sentenced to 1 year of imprisonment
Date of birth: 19 October 1993
Date of detention: 13 September 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 1 year
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 6 May 2023
Date of release: 5 June 2023
Judge: Yuliya Shchotkina
Mikhail Makarau is a lawyer. He was arrested on September 13, 2022.
His arrest was related to Makarau's work as a defender of anarchists imprisoned for political reasons. The Frunzienski District Court of Minsk first sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest under Article 19.11 of the Administrative Code (‘distribution of extremist materials’). After he had served the full term, he was charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (‘active participation in actions grossly disrupting public order’) and transferred to remand prison #1 in Minsk.
On November 3, 2022, the Ministry of Justice disbarred Makarau due to "disciplinary penalties and for committing offenses incompatible with the title of a lawyer”.
On March 3, 2023, the Lieninski District Court of Minsk delivered a verdict in the lawyer’s case. Mikhail Makarau was accused of participating in a protest in 2020 in Minsk. Judge Yuliya Shchotkina sentenced him to 12 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
