Volha Kukushkina

sentenced to 1 1/2 years of imprisonment, released after serving full sentence

Former prisoner

Date of birth: 3 March 1970

Date of detention: 28 January 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: 1 1/2 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Date of release: 7 June 2023

Judge: Andrei Litvin

Volha Kukushkina

Volha Kukushkina was accused of insulting Aliaksandr Lukashenka (Article 368 of the Criminal Code, 'Contempt of the President of Belarus') and government officials (Article 369 of the Criminal Code, 'Contempt of a public official').

It is known that in the fall of 2021, her place of residence was searched, and then she was sentenced to 10 days of administrative imprisonment for sharing a post from an “extremist” channel.

In Kukushkina’s phone storage, an image of Lukashenka and Belarusian officials in Nazi uniforms was found, based on which a criminal proceeding was started. According to the investigation, Volha Kukushkina posted that image in a private chat room more than a year before.

On January 28, 2022, Judge Andrei Litvin found her guilty and sentenced her to 18 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. Kukushkina was taken into custody in the courtroom.

The political prisoner served her sentence in women's penal colony #4 in Homieĺ.

On June 7, 2023, the political prisoner was released after serving her sentence in full. She was imprisoned for 1 year, 4 months, and 9 days.

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