Uladzislau Plushchau
musician, sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment
Political prisoner
Date of birth: 14 March 1973
Date of detention: 12 April 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- art. 188 of the Criminal Code — Defamation
- Art. 203-1 of the Criminal Code — Illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 1 March 2023
Judge: Alena Bushava, Andrei Mlechka
Prison: Penal colony No. 1
Groups: Cultural workers
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Cédric Wermuth, Member of the Swiss National Council
Uladzislau Pliushchаu is a famous Belarusian musician. On August 2, 2022, he was convicted of ‘slandering and insulting a government official’ under Articles 188 and 369 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a penal colony. The Frunzienski District Court of Minsk also fined the musician 6,400 rubles (equivalent to 2,530 US dollars) and decided to confiscate his personal car.
On November 10, 2022, another trial over a political prisoner began. This time the musician was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code:
- insulting a government official (Article 369),
- defamation (Article 188), and
- illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data (part 3 of Article 203-1).
On November 24, 2022, Judge Andrei Mlechka of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk sentenced Pliushchаu to three years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony and a fine of 9,600 Belarusian rubles ($3,800).
