Николай Автухович, фото sb.by
Political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich will be sent to a closed prison for three years. The decision was taken by a circuit court held on January 23 at Penal Colony No. 14 in the settlement of Navasady near Barysau, Radio Svaboda reported, citing a source.
According to the source, the court considered the case over two days, on January 20 and 23. The reasons for the new transfer to a prison regime are not yet known. The source said that Autukhovich spent seven days in a punishment cell in the colony, after which he complained that he had chilled his ear.
It is not known whether Mikalai Autukhovich will appeal the court’s decision. There is also no information yet on which specific prison he will be transferred to under the closed regime.
Mikalai Autukhovich was detained in December 2020 and in October 2022 was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was charged with treason, aiding terrorist activity, attempting to seize power by unconstitutional means, creating a criminal organization, and inciting racial, national, or religious hatred. Under the sentence, he was required to serve the first five years under a prison regime. He was held in a prison in Hrodna, and at the end of 2025 was transferred to Penal Colony No. 14.
This is the third imprisonment of Mikalai Autukhovich: the first from October 2005 to January 2008, and the second from February 2009 to April 2014, during which he spent more than two years before the end of his term in the Hrodna prison.
Mikalai Autukhovich is a veteran of the Afghan war, a former entrepreneur and public figure. He is 63 years old.