European Belarus Activist, Mother Of Many Children Alena Lazarchyk Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison

• 20.09.2022, 0:39

Judge Pavel Klimau issued the verdict.

On September 19, the Mahiliou Regional Court sentenced Alena Lazarchyk, the activist of the European Belarus civil campaign, to eight years in a medium-security prison. Judge Pavel Klimov considered the case in a closed court hearing, so the details of the trial are unknown, according to human rights activists.

A 48-year-old woman was charged under four articles of the Criminal Code:

Art. 368 for insulting Aliaksandr Lukashenka;

Art. 361-1 (“Creation of an extremist formation or joining it”);

Art. 130 (“Inciting hatred or discord”);

Art. 342 (“Participation in actions that grossly violate public order”);

Alena Lazarchyk, the activist of the European Belarus was detained on December 30, 2021. On January 7, 2022, the woman was transferred to a pre-trial detention centre.

On July 22, the KGB added the activist to the list of persons involved in terrorist activities. Human rights activists recognized her as a political prisoner.

Earlier, the activist was also detained in September 2020. Because of this, her youngest son Artem was taken to an orphanage directly from school. This caused public outrage, a lot of people gathered near the walls of the Frunzensky District Orphan Asylum. They demanded to return the child to the mother.

Artiom was then returned to his mother only after two nights in the asylum. Alena also has an older son and daughter.