Dzmitry Palienka Is At Large

The former political prisoner is going to Minsk.

“Political prisoner Dzmitry Palienka is free! He’s going to Minsk,” – a Charter97.org correspondent reports.

Dzmitry Palienka was taken under escort from the Babruisk colony to the railway station and seen into a train to Minsk to thwart his meeting with relatives and friends.

We remind that Dzmitry Palienka is a social activist from Minsk. The reason for the prosecution was his participation in the peaceful “Critical Mass” cycling event, which was held on April 29, 2016 in Minsk and was interrupted by the police.

On October 12, 2016, the Tsentralny district court of Minsk found him guilty of committing a crime under Article 364 of the Criminal Code (“violence or threat of violence against police officers”) and part 2 of Article 343 of the Criminal Code. Dzmitry Palienka was sentenced to two years in prison with suspending the sentence for two years.

On April 7, 2017, the Zavadski district court of Minsk considered the complaint of the body that was monitoring the convict’s behavior, and canceled the suspension. In this regard, without the right to appeal, the activist was sent to a correctional colony to serve the sentence of 1.5 years.

On August 22, 2017, Amnesty International recognized Dzmitry Palienka as a prisoner of conscience.