Russian national facing charges in Tsikhanouski case Updated

Dmitry Popov, moderator of several social media accounts affiliated with Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s YouTube channel “A Country For Living”, has been charged under Part 1, Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (preparation for or active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order).

A Russian national, Popov is accused of organizing an illegal street event “under the formal pretext of collecting signatures” for the presidential nomination of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

The social media specialist is now held in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Minsk. In one of his recent letters, Dmitry said that his health had deteriorated due to stress and his heart problems recurred.

Popov was allegedly arrested on June 4 in the southeastern city of Mazyr. Before that, he posted a video saying that the police wanted to arrest him in a criminal case. A few days later, he was sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention and transferred to Minsk.

Dmitry Popov is the nineteenth person involved in the criminal case of “breaching public order” during an election picket on May 29 in Hrodna. Seventeen of them continue to remain in pre-trial detention. Two persons, Vasil Babrouski and Uladzimir Navumik, were released before trial on July 9.

UPD. In response to the news, the country's leading human rights organizations called Dmitry Popov a political prisoner and demanded his immediate release. Together with Popov, the list of Belarusian poliitcal prisoners now features 25 persons.