Man sentenced to 3 years in Belarus prison, previously extradited from Russia despite Strasbourg Court ruling

A court in Belarus has sentenced Dmitry Podlobnikov who was extradited from Russia earlier to three years in high-security prison for violence towards a law enforcer, according to Viasna, a human rights organisation.

The trial started on 29 April and finished on 4 May, although the court decision only became known today. The prosecutor’s theory is that Podlobnikov struggled on arrest, punched and kicked police shields and attempted to punch a police officer, inflicting ‘hedonic damage’ on him.

Podlobnikov, a Belarus national, was extradited from Russia in January. His mother said that on 9 August 2020, her son met a friend and ended up in the square where a rally against the results of the Belarus presidential election took place. Podlobnikov was beaten up by the police, he was unconscious.

The European Court of Human Rights previously ruled out that Podlobnikov should not be extradited before 31 January.

Large-scale protests in Belarus started in August 2020 after the presidential election. Sviatlana Tsihanouskaya, an opposition leader, only got 10% of the public vote, as the state electoral committee declared. Aleksandar Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994, was declared the winner, a decision which brought thousands of people to the streets, demanding a fair election and freedom for political prisoners.

Numerous people, including several opposition leaders, were sent to prison.