Eduard Babaryka given additional 18 months in prison

July 12, Pozirk. A district judge in Babrujsk, Mahiloŭ region, has sentenced Eduard Babaryka, the imprisoned son of former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka, to additional 18 months in prison, Belsat TV reported.

Judge Pavieł Karcinin found him guilty of malicious disobedience to the prison administration, a charge routinely used by authorities to hold political opponents in prisons longer.

In 2020, Eduard managed his father’s presidential campaign, and was later given eight years in prison on what was widely regarded as trumped-up charges.

The new criminal case against him was initiated on April 30 by the administration of Penal Colony No. 2 in Babrujsk.

Eduard ran the crowdfunding platforms Ulej and MolaMola and was one of his father’s campaign managers before their arrest in June 2020.

His father, Viktar Babaryka, was determined to challenge Alaksandar Łukašenka in that year’s presidential race.

Eduard spent more than three years in detention waiting for trial. In July 2023, the Minsk Regional Court sentenced him to eight years in prison on charges of evading taxes, organizing protests and inciting hatred. Human rights groups condemned the sentence as politically motivated.

In December 2023, security forces blacklisted him as an extremist and terrorist.

Also read: New charge against Eduard Babaryka may prolong his imprisonment