Freelance journalist from Pinsk sentenced to six years in a penal colony and a big fine
On April 5, 53-year-old freelance journalist and video blogger Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk was convicted in the Stolin District Court. The political prisoner was found guilty of organizing protests in Stolin and Minsk, slandering Lukashenka, and extortion. At the trial, Aliaksandr partially admitted guilt in the first charges, but did not admit guilt in extortion. Judge Siarhei Nasenia sentenced him to six years in a medium security penal colony and a fine of 8,000 rubles (2,252 euros). The trial lasted from March 15 and was held behind closed doors.
Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk was detained on July 18, 2023. This became known by chance: for a long time, he had lived alone in a remote village in the Pinsk district, and friends started to worry about him after he had not been in touch for several weeks. The Ministry of Internal Affairs published a video of the journalist's harsh detention only in March 2024.
The journalist was found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code: Part 1 of Article 342 (organization of actions grossly violating public order), Part 2 of Article 367 (defamation of Lukashenka), Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 208 (extortion).
According to the prosecution's version, in August 2020, Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk, while on the territory of Stolin and Pinsk districts of the Brest region, "organized group actions that grossly violate public order and involve evident disobedience to the legitimate demands of the authorities in Stolin and Minsk, in order to publicly conduct destructive activities, he posted publications on social media calling for group actions that grossly violate public order and involve evident disobedience to the demands of government representatives."
In August 2020, he "deliberately posted on the Internet information of an offensive and defamatory nature against Aliaksandr Lukashenka, containing deliberately false, untrue, shameful and degrading information related to the accusation of committing grave and especially grave crimes."
In addition, the journalist was accused of extortion. Thus, according to the prosecution version, during 2021 and 2022, Ihantsiuk "for selfish purposes, wanting to enrich himself at the expense of other citizens, under threats of spreading defamatory information and disclosing other information that the victims wanted to keep secret, as well as one which is dishonest and discrediting honor, dignity, and business reputation, repeatedly extorted money and other property owned by entrepreneurs of the Stolin district."
At the trial, Aliaksandr partially admitted guilt under Part 1 of Article 342 and Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code, and did not admit guilt under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code. At the same time, he accepted the stated claims of the victim for the recovery of property damage in the amount of 1800 rubles (506 euros).
As a result, the Stolin District Court sentenced him to imprisonment for a period of two years under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code; under Part 2 of Article 367, three years in a colony; under Part 1 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code, one year in a colony; under Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code, four years with a fine of 8000 rubles. By partially adding up the main punishments plus additional punishment, the journalist was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of six years with serving his sentence in a medium security penal colony regime with a fine of 8000 rubles. It was also decided to recover property damage in the amount of 1800 rubles from Ihnatsiuk in favor of the victim.
His laptop was also confiscated as a "means of committing a crime."
Support the political prisoner: SIZO-7, 224030, Brest, vul. Saveckikh pamezhnikaw, 37, Aliaksandr Aliaksandravich Ihnatsiuk
