Mikita Zalatarou
sentenced to 4 1/2 years of imprisonment
Prisoner
Date of birth: 12 May 2004
Date of detention: 11 August 2020
Charges indicted:
- Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code — Organization of riots
- Art. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
- Art. 295 of the Criminal Code — Unlawful acts against firearms, ammunition and explosives
Sentence: 4 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a high security prison
Judge: Dzmitryi Dziaboi, Viktar Kazachak
Prosecutor: Yauhen Fartushniak
Prison: Pre-trial detention center No. 8
Notes: Detained juveniles, Health issues, Prison security level
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, member of the British House of Lords
Mikita Zalatarou is a 16-year-old prisoner suffering from epilepsy. His father told reporters that Mikita was beaten at the police department and at the pre-trial detention center. The lawyer filed a complaint, but the authorities didrefused to investigate. Mikita told the court that he was beaten not only in August, but also on December 29 in the Homieĺ pre-trial detention center. The teenager also said in court that he was not allowed to take his medication while in the pre-trial detention center. "The warden said, "You're a political prisoner, you will die here",'" the minor said.
Zalatarou, along with Leanid Kavaliou and 25-year-old Dzmitry Karneyeu, was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code for his involvement in the events of August 10:
Art. 293 (organization of mass riots);
Art. 295-3 (illegal actions against objects whose effect is based on the use of combustible substances);
Art. 364 (violence or threat of violence against law enforcement officers).
Mikita Zalatarou refused to testify, using his right not to testify against himself.
On February 22, 2021, Judge Dzmitry Dziaboi of the Čyhunačny District Court of Homieĺ sentenced Zalatarou to five years in a juvenile penal colony.
On April 23, the Homieĺ Regional Court upheld the sentence.
On July 12, 2021, Mikita was sentenced to 18 months in a general-security penal colony under Article 364 of the Criminal Code (violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies). By partially combining the previous sentence (5 years in a penal colony) with the new one, Mikita received a total of 4 years and 6 months in a juvenile penal colony.
It is known that Mikita was regularly placed in the penal colony in an isolation cell.
On June 26, 2022, Mikita was transferred from the juvenile penal colony to the general-security penal colony.
In early August 2022, it became known that the custody level of the political prisoner has been upgraded to imprisonment in a high-security prison. Nikita was transferred from Mahilioŭ penal colony No. 15 to Žodzina prison No. 8.
On July 11, 2024, another trial took place in Žodzina. Nikita was charged under Part 2 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the colony administration). The verdict is still unknown.
