Mikhail Lapunou, the father of expelled former political prisoner Mikita Zalatarou, has been sentenced to five years in a medium-security penal colony. As reported by Viasna human rights defenders, he is being held in Penal Colony No. 11 in Vaukavysk.
Mikhail was detained in August 2023. Initially, he was sentenced four consecutive times to 15 days of administrative arrest. While he was under arrest, the KGB designated the closed Telegram chat “Homiel for Mikita Zalatarou” as an “extremist formation.”
Mikhail Lapunou was the owner of the chat. Based on this, criminal charges were brought against him for “creating an extremist formation” and “facilitating extremist activity.” In August 2024, the Homiel Regional Court handed down the sentence. On November 22, 2024, Mikhail was added to the “extremist list.” Human rights defenders had already recognized him as a political prisoner while he was still under administrative arrest.
Recall that Mikhail’s son, Mikita Zalatarou, was detained on August 11, 2020, when he was 16 years old. According to him, he was not participating in protests that day but was on his way to go fishing with his father. On March 19, 2025, Mikita was pardoned and expelled from the country. He is now 21 years old.
He spent five years and seven months in detention. Mikita suffers from epilepsy. He said that in the three days before his release, he was receiving IV treatment in a hospital.
