Siarhei Krupenich is a programmer based in Minsk.

He was detained in mid-July 2021 and sentenced to seven consecutive terms of administrative imprisonment exchanging messages in a private conversation with his wife on the Telegram messaging application. The messages originated from several channels, which the authorities earlier outlawed as “extremist”.

On November 5, Anastasiya and Siarhei stood their ninth trial and were sentenced to 15 more days each under Art. 19.11 of the Administrative Code for exchanging private messages that contained “extremist” content.

The new court ruling ordered to extend their detention to a total of 126 and 127 days, respectively. However, both were released a few hours later without explanation.

The couple left Belarus shortly after release.