Siarhei Kapanets
sentenced to 5 1/2 years
Political prisoner
Date of birth: 24 October 1974
Date of detention: 11 August 2020
Charges indicted:
- Part 1 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code — Organization of riots
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 5 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a high security prison
Judge: Viktoryia Shabunia
Prosecutor: Artsiom Tsviatkou, Ivan Protski
Prison: Prison No. 4
Notes: Prison security level
Cases: Protests in Minsk
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Rudolf Henke, member of the German Bundestag, Olaf in der Beek, member of the German Bundestag
Siarhei Kapanets was detained as part of the "rioting case" opened following the events of August 9-11, 2020. Kapanets was later charged under Art. 293 of the Criminal Code.
On May 18, 2021, the Centraĺny District Court of Minsk sentenced Siarhei Kapanets to five and a half years in a medium-security penal colony. He was convicted under two articles of the Criminal Code: Part 6 of Art. 16 (Complicity in a crime), Part 1 of Art. 293 ('Assistance in organization of mass riots'), and Part 1 of Art. 342 ('Group actions gravely breaching public order'). The judge Viktoryia Shabunia sentenced Kapanets to the very punishment requested by the prosecutor Ivan Protski.
The political prisoner is serving his sentence in penal colony No. 1 in Navapolack. As of late January 2023, the colony administration has placed Kapanets in a punishment cell for a total of 150 days.
On June 29, 2023, a trial was held to change the prison security level for the political prisoner.
On July 9, 2023, Siarhei was transferred to Prison No. 4.
