Teacher gets four years in jail for a video with Russian military equipment

The trial of Iryna Abdukeryna is over. The hearings started on November 28 in the Homieĺ Regional Court and continued till December 6. The trial was closed to the public. Judge Ruslan Tsaruk considered the case.

Political prisoner Iryna Abdukeryna is a former English teacher from Chojniki, a town in Homieĺ region just about 60 km from the border with Ukraine. She was detained on the morning of April 5, 2022, at her summer house. The reason for the arrest was that the woman had allegedly recorded the movement of a Russian military convoy and forwarded the video to the Bielaruski hajun Telegram channel. This is stated in the “repentant” video of her.

The video also stated that Irina was sacked from school in 2020, although she left of her own accord back in 2016.

The woman was charged under four articles of the Criminal Code:

• “creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it” (Art. 361-1),
• “incitement to hatred” (Art. 130),
• “financing the activities of an extremist group” (Art. 361-2), and
• “discrediting Belarus” (Art. 369-1).

The court found Abdukeryna guilty and sentenced her to four years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. She was also fined 3,200 Belarusian rubles (approx. US$1,260).