TikTok-blogger sentenced to 24 months behind bars in a closed-door trial

On August 22, 45-year-old political prisoner TikTok blogger Andrei Bialiauski was sentenced to 24 months in a general-security penal colony in the Babrujsk District and City Court.

Bialiauski was found guilty of ‘insulting Aliaksandr Lukashenka’ under Article 368 of the Criminal Code in a closed-door trial. Further indictment details are unknown. Judge Anton Dudal started considering the case in the morning, and after lunch, he already passed the verdict.

Bialiauski was arrested on April 28, 2022, while working in his own bicycle shop. His minor son was taken to the police station as well. The boy was later released and handed over to his grandparents. After the arrest, employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) tookownership Bialiauski's TikTok account.