On Monday, it has become known that the 22-year-old political prisoner Dzmitry Hopta was denied pardon, the human rights centre Viasna reports.
Notably, the young man has a mental illness causing a significant behavioural disorder, which requires special care and treatment. But despite that fact, the resident of Homiel was sentenced to two years in a penal colony.
According to the authorities’ version, on August 9-10, Dzmitry Hopta took part in protest rallies in the town of Zhlobin. He was charged with ‘organising actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them’ (Article 342 of the Criminal Code) and ‘violence against a policeman’ (Art. 364). Acting on advice by a state-controlled defence lawyer, Dzmitry fully admitted his guilt: during the trial, he said that he had thrown one stone and run away. He told his mother that he was battered behind bars.
In 2021, pro-Lukashenka activist Yury Vaskrasenski started writing letters to political prisoners, urging them to ask the Belarusian strongman for clemency. It should be recalled that Vaskrasenski’s associate gave hope to the political prisoner’s relatives. However, as one can seen Dzmitry Hopta has not been pardoned.
One can write a letter to support the prisoner:
Дзмітрый Гопта
ПК № 8, г.п. Віцьба,
211322 Віцебская вобл.,
Belarus / Беларусь
