Minsk Court Hands Prison Term To Cousin Of Belarusian Platoon's Deputy Commander Fighting With Ukraine

The Belarusian Kastus Kalinouski platoon is fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces against invading Russian troops.

A court in Minsk on April 27 sentenced to three years in prison a cousin of the deputy commander of the Kastus Kalinouski platoon, which is fighting alongside Ukrainian armed forces against invading Russian troops. Syarhey Franchuk, a 34-year-old cousin of Vadzim Kabanchuk, was sentenced after the court found him guilty of insulting online the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and a police official, inciting social hatred, and disruption of social order. Franchuk was arrested in August 2022 in the eastern city of Babruysk. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Belarus Service, click here.