Protester Zubko sentenced to three years of open-type correctional facility


Ivan Zubko has to serve his sentence at his place of residence in Stolin.

Ivan Zubko.
Photo: Belsat

On February 3 a Minsk court passed a verdict in a criminal case against 25-year-old Ivan Zubko.

Judge Dzmitry Astapenka sentenced him to three years of freedom restriction in an open-type facility. That was the sentence requested by prosecutor Viktoryia Kuntsevich. Ivan Zubko has to serve his sentence at the place of registration in Stolin.

Photo: Belsat

Ivan Zubko was found guilty under part 1 of article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate the public order). At the trial the prosecutor accused Ivan of taking an active part in the march on November 1, 2020. He was in the front rows on the roadway of Independence Avenue, threw his hands above his head, stood in a human chain, openly shouted slogans, and did not respond to demands to stop the actions.

Ivan pleaded not guilty at the trial. He agreed that he took part in the action, but did not see his actions as part of a criminal offense.

Photo: Belsat

A similar charge was brought against Ivan’s girlfriend Renata Smirnova, who was sentenced to two years of home-type correctional facility on January 29. The couple was detained at the “march against terror” during the Sunday march to Kurapaty. First, they brutally detained Ivan: they tried to strangle on the way to the bus. Ranata asked the law enforcement officers not to use physical force, and then the girl asked to join Ivan in the truck. She was worried about his health. Renata acted as a witness at Ivan’s trial.

The man said that on that day he exercised his constitutional right to come out in peaceful protest against the ongoing violence in the country and the lack of criminal cases against it, against the election results and the lies about the underreporting of statistics on morbidity and mortality from COVID-19.

Ivan’s shoes, which were returned after the trial. Photo: Belsatbelsat.eu

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