Volha Paulava
activist of Siarhei Tsikhanouski's project "A Country for Living",sentenced to 3 years of home confinement, released
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 26 May 1988
Date of detention: 15 November 2020
Charges indicted:
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: restricted freedom under home confinement ("domashnyaya khimiya")
Judge: Maryna Zapasnik
Prosecutor: Aliaksandr Ramanovich
Groups: Activists
Cases: Protests in Minsk
Notes: Trials in absentia
Volha Paulava graduated from the Medical University and was engaged in the promotion of professional cosmetics in a major company. During the 2020 election, she became an activist of Siarhei Tsikhanouski's project "A Country for Living" and a member of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's nomination group, collecting signatures to support her nomination.
After the election, Volha took part in protests. She was detained four times. Volha was last detained at a rally staged to commemorate the death of protester Raman Bandarenka, after which a criminal case was opened against her.
Volha was charged under Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (organization of actions which gravely breach public order). In December, Volha spent 17 days in a punishment cell, ten of which she was on a hunger strike.
On February 19, Judge Maryna Zapasnik of the Lieninski District Court of Minsk sentenced Volha Paulava to three years of home confinement known as “home khimiya”. The convict was released in the courtroom.
