Former civil servant convicted of disclosing personal data of police officers

On August 3, 2022, the Minsk Municipal Court passed a jail sentence on political prisoner Siarhei Petrushenka, the former head of the Minsk Municipal State Registration and Land Cadastre Agency, who was accused of aiding and abetting incitement of hatred and other crimes.

The case was considered by a judicial panel chaired by Judge Dzina Kuchuk.

The political prisoner Siarhei Petrushenka was detained in June 2021 as part of a criminal case for posting personal data of Smarhoń police officers on a Telegram channel.

During the investigation, Petrushenka was charged with several counts: incitement of hatred (Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code); illegal acquisition of computer information (Article 352 of the Criminal Code); illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data (Part 1 of Article 179); and abuse of power or authority (Part 3 of Article 426).

The trial was held behind closed doors.

The judicial panel for criminal cases of the Minsk Municipal Court issued a guilty verdict. Petrushenka was sentenced to 6.5 years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to occupy positions of organizational and administrative responsibility for a period of 5 years.