Court adds 20 months to jailed regime opponent’s sentence

January 3, BPN. The Homiel Regional Court has sentenced jailed regime opponent Andrej Padniabienny (Andrey Podnebenny) to 20 months in prison, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports. It has also fined the 34-year-old man 37,000 rubels ($14,000).

During a closed-door trial held since November 25, Judge Rusłan Caruk found him guilty of facilitating extremist activity, insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka and a public official, and inciting hatred. 

Padniabienny, a Russian national living in Homiel since the age of six, had been sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 30 in a closed-door trial on charges that human rights defenders condemned as politically motivated. 

The prosecutor said that he had broken into a construction site in Homiel in September 2019 to damage a crane truck and other property. In November 2021 Padniabienny allegedly cut 76 tires in 39 trolleybuses at a public transport parking area.

According to the first court ruling, he must pay over 16,000 rubels in damages.

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