Dmitry "Zmitser" Vyachaslavavich Dashkevich (; ; born July 20, 1981, in Yelsk District, Gomel Region) is a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian politician and former leader of the unregistered youth opposition movement

Young Front Young Front (, МФ, ''MF'') is a Belarusian youth movement registered in the Czech Republic, a member of the European Democrat Students. , it was the largest youth organisation of Belarus declaring democratic orientation; a pro-Western, right- ...

(from 2004 to 2017).

Life

In November 2006, Dashkevich was found guilty of "illegal political activity" by a Belarusian court and sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Amnesty international Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

(AI) declared him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

, and the U.S. government condemned the verdict. In March 2011, he and fellow Young Front activist Eduard Lobau were found guilty of assault one day in advance of a disputed

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. The Young Front activists stated that the case against them was politically motivated. Dashkevich was sentenced to two years in prison, and Lobau to four. AI again named the pair prisoners of conscience. According to AI, Dashkevich was offered a presidential pardon in September 2011 if he would confess his guilt, but he refused. On 18 July 2012, Belarusian authorities announced that a new investigation had been opened against Dashkevich for his "systematic and aggressive refusal to follow the instructions of the penitentiary administration." On 28 August 2012, Dashkevich was found guilty in an ''in camera'' trial, and another year was added to his prison sentence. On 30 October, a court ordered Dashkevich's transfer to a maximum security prison.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

reported that he "was being subjected to routine prison abuse, including verbal abuse, arbitrary punishments, and threats of torture, rape, and murder". As of September 2011, Dashkevich was engaged to another Young Front activist,

Nasta Palazhanka Nasta Palazhanka (Dashkevich) (, romanized: Nasta Pałažanka; born 1990) is an activist in the opposition youth movement in Belarus, which she joined at the age of 14. As of 2011 she is Deputy Chairperson of the Malady Front (Young Front), an NG ...

. The two married when Palazhanka visited him in Hrodno prison on 26 December 2012. Authorities stated that the couple would be allowed one more two-hour visit before Dashkevich's release, scheduled for August 2013. He was released on August 28, 2013, after having completed his sentence. On April 23, 2022, Dashkevich was detained after a search of his apartment. On July 14, 2022, the Maskoŭski District Court of Minsk sentenced him to 18 months of imprisonment in a penal colony.

Viasna Human Rights Centre The Viasna Human Rights Centre () is a human rights in Belarus, human rights organization based in Minsk, Belarus. The organization aims to provide financial and legal assistance to political prisoners and their families, and was founded in 1996 ...

recognizes Dashkevich as a political prisoner. Dashkevich was supposed to be released from the colony in July 2023, but he was detained in a new criminal case. In October of the same year, he was sentenced to a year in a strict regime colony on the charge of malicious disobedience to the colony administration. In May 2024, a new criminal case was opened against Dashkevich, and at the end of September it became known that he was sentenced to a year and 3 months in a strict regime prison on charges of acts that grossly violate public order and malicious disobedience to the demands of the prison administration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dashkevich, Zmitser 1981 births Living people People from Yelsk district Belarusian Protestants Belarusian politicians Belarusian prisoners and detainees Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Belarus