Tatsiana Pytsko
in custody
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 26 September 1984
Date of detention: 6 June 2023
Charges indicted:
- Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 24 November 2023
Judge: Yauhen Burunou
Notes: Parents of three or more children
Groups: Teachers
Tatsiana Pytsko is the wife of Viachaslau Lazarau, a political prisoner from Viciebsk. She was arrested on the evening of June 6, 2023, and is still in custody. Later it became known that Tatsiana Pytsko was charged under Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus ('Creation of an extremist organization or participation in it').
The daughter of Tatsiana Pytsko and Viachaslau Lazarau, who had just turned one year and one month old by the time of her arrest, was sent to a children's hospital.
In 2020, Tatsiana Pytsko was tried and fined for participating in the peaceful protest marches and lost her school teaching job. After the birth of her youngest daughter, she was raising her and the two older children from her first marriage.
On September 25, 2023, Tatsiana Pytsko was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
Judge of Viciebsk Regional Court Yauhen Burunou considered the case in a closed session.
On November 22, 2023, the Supreme Court considered appeals against the decision of the Viciebsk Regional Court. As a result, judge Yuryi Rutkouski decided to sentence Tatsiana to the same 3 years of imprisonment, but with a punishment delay for three years.
On November 24, 2023, Tatsiana was released from the Viciebsk pre-trial detention center, where she spent almost six months.
