Andrei Padniabenny sentenced to 15 years in jail under ‘terrorist’ article
Andrei Padniabenny. Photo from social networks
On June 30, the Homieĺ Regional Court pronounced the verdict in the criminal case against 33-year-old local resident Andrei Padniabenny.
He is a Russian citizen but has been living in Belarus since he was six years old and has a residence permit. Andrei was indicted behind closed doors under a number of serious articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus: Part 1 of Article 14 and Part 3 of Article 218 (attempt to deliberate destruction or damage to property of others); Part 1 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist group), Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 289 (an act of terrorism) for setting fire to the car of the head of the Department of Corrections, puncturing the tires of 39 trolleybuses, creating and administering a Telegram channel and a Telegram chat, which are recognized as extremist formations, as well as setting fire to a crane at a construction site in 2019. Judge Anatol Sotnikau sentenced Andrei, who has been in custody for seven months, to 15 years in a medium-security penal colony.
On May 23, the KGB put Andrei Padniabenny on the list of terrorists.
