Sergey Bespalov

Affiliated media: Blogger

Incident date: May 2, 2025

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

It has become known that the Minsk Regional Court has sentenced blogger Sergey Bespalov in absentia to 18 years in prison and a fine of 1,000 base units (42,000 rubles). The case was considered under special proceedings. The blogger was accused of publishing information about the protests on his online platforms (including the Telegram channel My Country Belarus and others) starting in 2020. He was found guilty under several articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus, including Part 1 of Article 357 (conspiracy to seize power), Part 1 of Article 293 (organisation of mass riots), and Parts 2 of Articles 367 and 368 (insulting the President of Belarus).