In 2016, he organized the action of collecting signatures under an appeal to the Ministry of Culture for giving the white-red-white flag the status of intangible historical and cultural value.
Zmicier Daškievič was repeatedly subjected to administrative and criminal persecution for his civil position and participation in peaceful protests and was recognized as a political prisoner.
On September 15, 2006, he was arrested and charged with “activities on behalf of an unregistered organization” under Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus and sentenced to 1.5 years of imprisonment. He was released on January 23, 2008.
On December 18, 2010, he was preemptively arrested on the eve of the presidential elections. On March 24, 2011, he was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment under Art. 339 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism). On August 28, 2012, in the colony of the city of Hłybokaje, he was convicted for “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the colony administration,” the court added another year to his sentence. He was released on August 28, 2013.
On March 23, 2022, the apartment of Zmicier Daškievič was searched in Minsk. GUBAZiK informed on its Telegram channel about the detention of Zmicier Daškievič and reported that “evidence has been collected on the activist to bring him under Art. 342 of the Criminal Code, work is also underway to qualify his other actions, including inciting hatred through administered Internet communities.”
On March 24, 2022, Zmicier Daškievič was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest, placed in a detention center in Minsk. After 15 days he was not released but accused under Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order or active participation in them).
On April 14, Zmicier Daškievič has been recognized as a political prisoner.
On July 11, 2022, Zmicier and Nasta Daškievič were indicted under part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (group actions that grossly violate public order) – accused of participating in a protest action on August 23, 2020. During the investigation, while Zmicier Daškievič was behind bars, Nasta Daškievič gave birth to their fourth child.
During his last speech at the court, Zmicier Daškievič recounted how militia officers maltreated him for speaking in Belarusian: “During the arrest, they were beating me in front of my pregnant wife and talking to her: “What is this man saying? He should talk normally. He should be talking in a normal language.”
On July 14, the Maskoŭski District Court in Minsk handed down the sentence: Zmicier Daškievič – 1 year and 6 months of colony, Nasta Daškievič – 3 years of home confinement.
On October 21, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added Zmicier to the list of “extremists.”
He was supposed to be released on July 11, 2023, but a new criminal case was opened against him for “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration of the correctional facility” (Article 411 of the Criminal Code). Consequently, Zmicier Daškievič was taken to prison in Žodzina.
On May 3, 2024, it became known that a new criminal case was initiated against Zmicier Daškievič under Art. 342 (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order). There were 2 months left before the end of Zmicier Daškievič’s prison term.
On September 18, 2024, the Pieršamajski District Court in Minsk heard another criminal case against Zmicier Daškievič. He was charged under Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code (malicious disobedience to the demands of the administration of the correctional institution) and Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order).
Court’s verdict: 1 year and 3 months in a maximum-security (penal) colony.
Mail address: Zmicier Daškievič, Prison No. 8, 222160, Žodzina, vulica Savieckaja 22A.