Human rights defenders: 23-year-old special forces officer from Babruisk sentenced to 19 years for ‘treason against the state’

The Minsk Regional Court sentenced Yauhen Zharykau, a 23-year-old special forces officer from Babruisk, to 19 years in a high-security penal colony. The charge was "treason against the state", Part 2 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code. The sentence was reported on 19 October by Vyasna, a human rights centre that the Belarusian authorities have designated an extremist formation.

Zharykau is 23. He was born and grew up in Babruisk, where he finished Secondary School No. 6 in 2020.

After a military educational institution, Zharykau received an officer's rank. He was assigned to Maryina Horka, to the 5th Separate Special Purpose Brigade.

According to non-state Belarusian outlets, he was detained by KGB officers in February 2025 and sentenced in May 2026 to 19 years in a high-security penal colony. Vyasna's human rights defenders also report that he was detained by the KGB.

Zharykau was tried behind closed doors, so the details of the charge are unknown. The sentence was handed down several months ago, and it has only now become public.

A closed trial and months without public information mean that neither the charge itself nor the arguments of the parties can be checked from outside. This applies to the very fact of the sentence as well: it became known only months later.

Besides 19 years in a high-security penal colony, the human rights defenders say, the man from Babruisk was fined 500 base units, which is 22500 rubles.

According to non-state Belarusian outlets, Zharykau wrote in Belarusian on social media and condemned Russian imperialism. It is still unknown which specific actions or statements the court considered treason against the state.

Zharykau's case is mentioned alongside other criminal cases against servicemen, former security officers and employees of state institutions. The charges in these cases include "treason against the state" and "terrorism". Non-state outlets link the sentence to a rise in the number of treason cases.