Political Prisoner Sentenced To 22 Years For Alleged Preparation Of A Freedom Day Terrorist Attack To Be Tried Again

• 30.01.2023, 2:23

Now he is accused of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the prison administration".

Political prisoner Vyachaslau Maleichuk, sentenced to 22 years in prison for alleged preparation of terrorist attacks on Freedom Day, will be tried again, HRC Viasna reports.

Vyachaslau Maleichuk was convicted on May 30, 2022. Then he was sentenced to 22 years in Minsk Regional Court in a strict regime colony. Maleichuk was accused of attempted acts of terrorism, preparation to commit it repeatedly, involving the murder of people, trafficking in ammunition, explosives and objects, the striking effect of which is based on the use of flammable substances. Human rights activists declared Vyachaslau a political prisoner.

Now he is accused of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the prison administration" under Article 411, Criminal Code. Maleichuk can be sentenced to up to two years in prison for this.

Vyachaslau Maleichuk, 37, born in Pinsk district, lived in Minsk. His detention became known on March 26. The Interior Ministry (having warned in advance of the allegedly prepared provocations of the opposition on Freedom Day) declared the "prevention of terrorist attacks" in Minsk Chizhovka and a military camp in Pechy. Then, security forces released a video of Vyachaslau. He says, in formal language, that the BYPOL initiative ordered him to carry out an act of terrorism, calling it both "destabilization" and "expression of civic position". The video showed the man being beaten.