11 years in prison: Belarusian court sentenced Russian citizen Yegor Dudnikov

A court in Minsk sentenced 21-year-old Yegor Dudnikov to 11 years in prison. The Russian was found guilty of inciting hatred, public calls for seizing power and forcibly changing the constitutional order. He is also charged with actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of Belarus.

“On the basis of the cumulative crimes, to impose a final sentence in the form of imprisonment for a term of 11 years with serving the sentence in a colony with a high security regime”, - TASS quotes the judge's verdict.

As "Novaya Gazeta" clarifies, the Russian consul was present at the sentencing.

Russian Yegor Dudnikov was arrested on May 5 for dubbing videos of the Belarusian opposition. Between January and May, he posted 55 voiced prompting voice messages. In December, it became known that the trial in the case of Yegor Dudnikov, a 21-year-old Russian citizen, who was arrested in Belarus, would be held behind closed doors in the Minsk City Court.

“The case was closed for the listeners so that“ nothing would interfere with the consideration of the criminal case”, - since Dudnikov “creates a rather unpredictable situation” for the court, and in a closed process“ no matter what he says, no one will hear it anyway” - supposes lawyer Anton Gashinsky, as reported by Novaya Gazeta.

He said that after the verdict was passed, the defense would begin the procedure for extraditing Dudnikov to Russia.