Volha Takarchuk
blogger, designer, served full term, released
Date of birth: 18 April 1985
Date of detention: 19 May 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Art. 391 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a judge
art. 188 of the Criminal Code — Defamation
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 16 June 2022
Judge: Alena Kaptsevich
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Jamila Schäfer, member of the German Bundestag
Volha Takarchuk is a blogger and designer based in Minsk.
She was detained several times after the 2020 elections. On May 19, 2021, her apartment was searched. At that time, she was already a suspect under two articles of the Criminal Code: Art. 391 (insulting a judge) and Art. 188 (slander against members of an election commission).
She eventually faced new charges under Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (group actions grossly violating public order).
The blogger was accused of participating in mass protests on August 30, September 20 and November 1, 2020, as well as posting a video “containing false information about a social school worker and an insult of a judge from Minsk”.
On December 20, judge Alena Kaptsevich sentenced Volha to one year and six months of imprisonment.
Volha served her sentence in full and was released on June 16, 2022.
