Economist Pavel Daneika was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in a penal colony in the Coordinating Council case
On January 31, the Minsk City Court sentenced Pavel Daneika, an economist and the administrative director of the BEROC research center, in absentia. Judge Valiantsina Ziankevich sentenced him to 12 years in a penal colony and a fine of 546,000 rubles (more than 160,400 euros). The economist was found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code: Part 4 of Article 16 and Part 4 of Article 233 (organization and management of entrepreneurial activities carried out without special permission (license)), Part 1 of Article 357 (conspiracy or other actions committed with the aim of seizing state power), and Part 3 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist formation or participation in it).
- Pavel Daneika
The court started handling Pavel Daneika's case on December 23, 2024, and special proceedings against him were initiated on October 8. According to the prosecution, Daneika joined the Coordinating Council in August 2020, and "as a member of it, he took active actions to achieve the goals of an unconstitutional seizure of state power."
The economist was found guilty of "conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional manner," and on the basis of Part 1 of Article 357 of the Criminal Code, he was sentenced to nine years with a fine of 420,000 rubles (more than 123,400 euros). For "joining an extremist formation in order to commit an extremist crime" (Part 361-1 of the Criminal Code), he was sentenced to three years in a penal colony with a fine of 126,000 rubles (more than 37,000 euros). Pavel Daneika was also found guilty of "organizing and directing entrepreneurial activities carried out without a special permit (license) and entrepreneurial activities carried out without a special permit (license)) involving the receipt of income on an especially large scale" (Part 4 of Article 16, Part 2 of Article 233 of the Criminal Code); he was fined 84,000 rubles (more than 24,600 euros).
Combining the punishments, the court sentenced the economist in absentia to 12 years of imprisonment in a medium security penal colony and a fine of 546,000 rubles (more than 160,400 euros).
