Ruslan Linnik
vlogger, sentenced to 4 years in prison
Date of birth: 28 December 1982
Date of detention: 20 February 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
art. 188 of the Criminal Code — Defamation
Art. 367 of the Criminal Code — Slander against the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 4 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Yuryi Mashketau
Prosecutor: Yauhen Serakou
Prison: Penal colony No. 17
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Sara Nanni, member of the German Bundestag
Ruslan Linnik is a YouTube blogger known for his videos on socially significant and political topics posted since early 2020. As of February 2021, his channel has more than 90,000 subscribers.
Ruslan Linnik was detained on February 20, 2021, in Viciebsk, then he was taken to a detention center in Minsk, and a few days later transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 1. He was charged under Art. 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a government official).
According to the investigators, he posted a video with insulting statements targeting police officers. The Interior Ministry said that Linnik had been in hiding for a long time.
On September 17, 2021, Linnik was sentenced to 4 years in a general-security penal colony, after the Maskoŭski District Court of Minsk found him today guilty on charges of “slandering the president” (Part 1 and Part 2 of Art. 367), “insulting the president” (Part 1 of Art. 368), “insulting a government official” (Art. 369), and “slander” (Art. 188).
On November 19, 2021, the Minsk City Court considered an appeal against the verdict filed by Ruslan Linnik's lawyer. The appeal stressed that the evidence mentioned in the verdict does not correspond to the factual circumstances of the case. However, a panel of judges chaired by Alena Ananich upheld the verdict.
