Николай Кацелапов. Скриншот эфира ОНТ
The Supreme Court has reviewed the appeal filed against the verdict issued to Mikalai Katselapau, co-founder of Wargaming. According to the human rights center Viasna, the appeal was rejected, and the verdict remains unchanged.
The ruling was delivered earlier this month. Katselapau was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison. He was also fined 50,000 base units — equivalent to 2.1 million rubles. Special proceedings against Katselapau began on July 1 this year. He was charged with financing extremist and terrorist activities under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-2 and Part 2 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code.
Earlier, state media claimed that Katselapau had transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to so-called “extremist” and “terrorist” funds.
In modern Belarus, terrorism and extremism charges are routinely used by the authorities to persecute opponents and suppress dissent.