Volha Barushka
sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 31 October 1986
Date of detention: 22 August 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 17 April 2023
Date of release: 5 January 2024
Judge: Katsiaryna Murashka
Groups: Doctors
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Ingrid Fiskaa, Member of the Norwegian Parliament
Volha Barushka is a doctor, an anesthesiologist and reanimatologist at the Minsk Scientific and Practical Center for Surgery, Transplantology and Hematology. She was arrested in late August 2022.
For her comments on the Internet, she was charged under Article 369 ('Contempt of a government official') and Article 391 ('Contempt of a judge') of the Criminal Code. In late December 2022, she was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a general security penal colony.