Pavel Seviarynets
opposition politician, co-founder of the Belarusian Christian democracy party, writer, sentenced to 7 years in prison
Date of birth: 30 December 1976
Date of detention: 7 June 2020
Charges indicted:
Part 1 of Article 13 and Article 293 of the Criminal Code — Preparation for mass riots
Sentence: 7 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Iryna Lanchava
Prison: Penal colony No. 17
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Michael Gahler, member of the European Parliament
Pavel Seviarynets is an opposition politician, co-founder of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party. He was arrested on June 7, 2020. After that, he was sentenced to at least three terms of detention, 15 days each, for participating in election pickets and calls to participate in mass events.
After 75 days of administrative detention, Pavel Seviarynets was not released, but transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 1 and later charged under Art. 293 of the Criminal Code (organization of mass riots).
On May 25, 2021, Judge Iryna Lanchava of the Mahilioŭ Regional Court sentenced Pavel Seviarynets to 7 years in a medium-security penal colony. The trial was held behind closed doors, since, as explained in court, “the case file belongs to a secret protected by law.”