Tatsiana Kouzina
researcher, sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 26 April 1973
Date of detention: 28 June 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 357 of the Criminal Code — Conspiracy to seize power in an unconstitutional way
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Sentence: 10 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Dzina Kuchuk
Prison: Penal colony No. 4
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Paula Piechotta, member of the German Bundestag
Tatiana Kouzina is a board member and a co-founder of SYMPA (The School of Young Managers in Public Administration), and an expert for the Bipart research project. She is a Master of Political Science.
Kouzina was arrested at the Minsk airport on June 28, 2021, while leaving for Tbilisi, Georgia. It later became known that Kouzina had been detained as a defendant in a criminal case. She was taken to the detention center on Akrescina Street in Minsk and soon transferred to remand prison #1.
On February 6, 2023, in the Minsk City Court, Judge Dzina Kuchuk started the trial of Tatiana Kouzina and the political analyst Valeryia Kastsiuhova. Depending on their roles, they were found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code:
- Part 1 of Article 357 ('Assisting actions in seizing power unconstitutionally')
- Part 3 of Article 361 ('Calls for actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus')
- Part 3 of Article 130 ('Incitement of other social hatred')
On March 17, 2023, Tatiana Kouzina and Valeryia Kastsiuhova were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
Political experts receive 10 years in jail
