Valeryia Hlinskaya
Bank employee; sentenced to 6 1/2 years of imprisonment in penal colony
Prisoner
Date of birth: 3 March 1995
Date of detention: 28 December 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
- Art. 352 of the Criminal Code — Illegal acquisition of computer information
- Art. 203-1 of the Criminal Code — Illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data
Sentence: 6 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 28 April 2023
Judge: Tatsiana Falkouskaya
Prison: Penal colony No. 4
Cases: The Black Book of Belarus case
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Kati Piri, Member of the Dutch House of Representatives
Valeryia Hlinskaya is a bank employee. She was arrested together with her mother, Ina Hlinskaya, on December 28, 2021, by the officers of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBAZiK) for allegedly leaking personal data of law enforcement officers to the Black Book of Belarus–a Telegram channel publishing personal information of the Belarusian law enforcers–in August 2020.
Valeryia and Ina Hlinskaya were tried under three articles of the Criminal Code: Part 3 of Art. 130 ('Incitement of other social hatred and enmity'), Part 3 of Art. 203-1 ('Illegal actions regarding privacy information and personal data'), and Art. 352 ('Unlawful acquirement of computer information').
On December 26, 2022, the hearing of the case began in the Minsk City Court. The political prisoners fully pleaded guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code—Part 3 of Art. 203-1 and Part 3 of Art. 352, and partially under Part 3 of Art. 130. They stated that they had no intention of 'inciting'.
On January 20, 2023, Judge Tatsiana Falkouskaya sentenced Valeryia Hlinskaya to six years and six months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony, and her mother, Ina Hlinskaya, was sentenced to seven years.
On April 28, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeals of the political prisoners. The judicial panel, chaired by Judge Siarhei Hurau, upheld the verdict and dismissed the appeals.
