The Belarusian court of the Smorgon region sentenced 46-year-old former teacher of history and social studies Andrei Petrovsky to one and a half years in prison on charges of libel against Lukashenka (part 1 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code), the human rights center Viasna reports..

A former teacher of a local gymnasium was found guilty of slandering Lukashenko: on March 12, 2021, during a social studies lesson, Petrovsky showed the video to eleventh graders \! " The video featured a logo recognized as extremist in Belarus.

According to " After that, the teacher was fired and a criminal case was opened against him..

According to investigators, the video, which was watched during the lesson, contains the phrase " In addition, the video contains "

Andrey Petrovsky pleaded not guilty either during the investigation or during the trial. Petrovsky was detained in the courtroom after the announcement of the verdict, before that he was under recognizance not to leave.