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Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ

Last update: 30 January 2023
Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ
Children's poet (pen name Zmitrok Buračok), showman, former teacher at Smart School, private school in Minsk.

Born on May 5, 1978.

Writes poems for children in Belarusian and Russian and is the author of the poetry book Жги! (2016).

Dźmitryj was arrested in Minsk on September 21, 2022.

He was forced to read his poems on a video shot by police officers. Also in the video, he says that he participated in the peaceful protests of 2020 because “his heart ached for the country.”

The consideration of the administrative case of Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ took place on September 23, 2022, in the Pieršamajski District Court in Minsk. He was accused of “petty hooliganism” (Article 19.1 of the Code of Administrative Violations) and sentenced to 15 days of arrest. Later, Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ was sentenced twice to 15 days of administrative arrest.

In November 2022, a criminal case was opened against Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ for insulting the President on the basis of part 1 of Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

On April 14, 2023, the criminal case against Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ began in the Minsk City Court, he was accused of insulting Alexander Lukashenko (part 1, Article 368 of the Criminal Code) and “inciting social enmity” (part 1, Article 130 of the Criminal Code).

On April 29, 2023, the sentence was delivered: 2 years of imprisonment in a low-security penal colony.

On July 11, 2023, the Supreme Court considered Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ’s appeal and rejected it.

On July 28, 2023, Dźmitryj Jurtajeŭ has been added to the “List of Persons involved in extremist activities.”