Homiel Regional Court passed a sentence on a former employee of the metallurgical plant in Zhlobin, Dzmitser Shcharbina, sentencing him to one year of imprisonment on charges of incitement to hatred. The trial began on February 16th under the chairmanship of Judge Vadzim Bobyrov.
Dzmitser Shcharbina, 29, was detained by law enforcers in October 2023. He was accused of participating in the 2020 protests that took place at the BMZ. He had previously been promised that he would not be prosecuted, but the court came to a different decision.
In August 2020, Zhlobin became one of the centers of protests in Homel region. There, thousands of citizens demanded new elections and condemned the violence of law enforcers. The Belarusian metallurgical plant was stopped for several hours due to the protests of workers.
The management of the plant initially promised not to punish the strike participants, but in fact the harassment became massive with dismissals and arrests of the plant employees. Four people were sentenced to prison terms under the article of organizing group actions that grossly violate public order.