Political prisoner Ihar Kapanajka, a Russian citizen, deported from Belarus

March 14, BPN. Ihar Kapanajka, 56, a retired serviceman and Russian citizen, who had a residence permit in Belarus, was released from prison.

Immediately after his release, he was deported to the Russian Federation, according to Viasna Human Rights Center.

Kapanajka was detained on November 27, 2020 and charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: Article 339 (hooliganism) and 369 (insulting a government official). On February 16, 2021, he was sentenced to one and a half years in a general regime penal colony.

According to the case file, on November 13, 2020, the day after the death of the beaten up activist Raman Bandarenka, Kapanajka poured assembly foam on the entrance door, lock and mailbox of the police officer’s apartment in one of the residential blocks in Minsk. He also wrote an insulting phrase on the mailbox addressed to Tacciana Aboznaja, press officer of the Central District Police Department, who claimed that Bandarenka was drunk.