Belarusian citizen Yana Pinchuk, extradited from Russia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. This was reported in the Telegram channel, which is run by activists in support of the arrested girl.
The trial of Yana began on April 10. She was extradited from Russia to Belarus in August 2022, despite the ban on extradition by the UN Human Rights Committee. She was charged under five articles of the Criminal Code, including "creating or directing a terrorist organization." The case was considered behind closed doors for two months.
According to investigators, Pinchuk was the administrator of the Vitebsk 97% protest Telegram channel, which the Belarusian authorities recognized as extremist. According to the prosecution, “in order to incite other social hatred,” she posted messages there with a “negative assessment” of government officials.
According to Pinchuk, she posted on Telegram only reposts with information about the time and place of the rallies, as well as about helping the detainees.
The girl was detained on November 1, 2021 in St. Petersburg and sent to a pre-trial detention center. In court, she said that she could not be under arrest for health reasons, as she suffered from chronic gastritis, asthma, and panic attacks.
