Sergei Mikhalok, one of the founders and leader of the Belarusian rock group Lyapis Trubetskoy, has been sentenced in absentia to four years in prison by the Minsk City Court. The court ruled that the musician must serve his term in a general regime penal colony, according to an announcement by the press service of the Belarusian Prosecutor's Office.
State prosecutors supported the criminal prosecution against Mikhalok under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, accusing him of publicly insulting President Alexander Lukashenko. According to court documents, his case also involved Part 1 of Article 130, which penalizes intentional actions aimed at inciting social enmity and discord. The court delivered the guilty verdict after examining the evidence and arguments presented by the state prosecutor.
Charges and judicial proceedings
The sentence was handed down in absentia, a judicial procedure in Belarus that allows courts to try and convict individuals who are located outside the country. A general regime penal colony represents the standard level of security within the Belarusian correctional system.
Alexander Lukashenko has held office as the president of Belarus since 1994, leading the Eastern European nation of nearly nine million people from its capital, Minsk. Belarusian authorities routinely apply statutes concerning the insult of state officials and the incitement of social discord in legal proceedings against political figures, cultural leaders, and public commentators.
Ska rock career and Ukraine performance
Mikhalok is one of the most prominent musical figures to emerge from Belarus in recent decades. He helped establish Lyapis Trubetskoy in Minsk in 1989, naming the band after a character from the Soviet satirical novel The Twelve Chairs. The collective achieved widespread popularity across Eastern Europe for its energetic mix of ska, punk, and satirical songwriting before disbanding in 2014, after which Mikhalok became the lead singer of the rock group Brutto.
The conviction follows previous public appearances by Mikhalok in Ukraine. The frontman of Brutto and Lyapis Trubetskoy had earlier greeted arriving Ukrainian soldiers with a song performance at the main railway station in Kyiv.
