"Aren't you ashamed to look people in the eye?" Sentence in Viciebsk for insulting an official

On July 5, the Pieršamajski District Court of Viciebsk pronounced its verdict in the criminal case against Siarhei Iliushenka for contempt of an official (Article 369 of the Criminal Code).

On 12 August 2020, Iliushenka saw a publication about official Stasheuski on social media. It said that the official forced his subordinates to change the election results. There was a lot of indignation in the comments. Siarhei Iliushenka wrote something like "Aren't you ashamed to look people in the eye? The country should know its heroes".

In the spring of 2021, the police detained the defendant for three days.

Unlike it often happens in such cases, the injured official did not ask for financial compensation for moral suffering.

Siarhei Iliushenka said in his final statement that he admitted his guilt in full, had no malicious intent, and didn't want to insult anyone in particular. He apologized to the victim in the courtroom.

Judge Tatsiana Rodzina announced the sentence: two and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility.