High-Ranking Artillery Officer To Be Tried In Belarus For ‘Treason’

• 3.02.2024, 11:13

The man has been behind bars for a year now.

The deputy commander of the 310th artillery group for ideological work of the 120th separate guards mechanized brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Anton Charamnykh, will be tried on February 15 in the Minsk City Court. The case will be considered behind closed doors by Siarhei Katser, the human rights center “Viasna” reports.

Charamnykh is accused of “treason to the state by a person who is subject to the status of a military serviceman” (Part 2 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code) and “inciting other social hatred” (Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code). He faces 10 to 20 years in prison.

A former prisoner told human rights activists that Charamnykh has been in Minsk pre-trial detention center #1 on Valadarski Street since the beginning of February 2023. The circumstances of the case are unknown.

Two years ago, the Zvyazda newspaper did a report from the 120th mechanized brigade, which is stationed in Minsk Uruchcha, where journalists also spoke with Charamnykh.