The Minsk City Court sentenced Artem Lebedko, the son of politician Anatoly Lebedko, to three and a half years in a high-security penal colony in the case of financing “extremist” activities (Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). This was reported by the human rights center “Viasna”.
According to the prosecution, in 2020, “for motives of ideological hostility”, using the settlement account of one of the banks, Lebedko made several money transfers over the phone to three funds, which are recognized in Belarus as “extremist formations”. Presumably, it was, among other things, the BY_help funds and the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund.
At the trial, Lebedko pleaded not guilty and stated that he did not understand the essence of the charges and did not understand that he was being tried.
The security forces detained Artem Lebedko at the end of March 2023, as reported by his father, Anatoly Lebedko. Then the court arrested him for 15 days for “obscene language near the police.” On April 12, the court again arrested the man for 15 days under the article on disobedience to the demand of an official (Article 24.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus). On April 30, it became known that a criminal case had been opened against him for financing “extremist” activities.
Artem Lebedko is the son of Belarusian politician Anatoly Lebedko, head of the opposition United Civil Party (2000-2018), currently an adviser on inter-parliamentary cooperation of the United Transitional Cabinet, who is forced to live in Vilnius. In January 2022, a criminal case was opened against him in Belarus.
Artem Lebedko is 37 years old, because of the constant persecution of his father in Belarus, he could not find a job for a long time, then he worked in a private company, he was never interested in politics.
