Aliaksandr is a worker at the Belarusian Steel Works in the town of Zhlobin and a member of the Belarusian Independent Union (BNP).
He was arrested on September 18, 2021, as part of the “Rabochy Rukh” investigation. “Rabochy Rukh” was declared an extremist movement on September 21, 2021, and a massive wave of worker arrests rolled all over the country.
On February 17, 2021, Judge Aliaksandr Piskunou of the Homyel Regional Court found Aliaksandr Gashnikau guilty under Part 1 Article 356 of the RB CC (high treason), and Part 3 Article 361-1 of the CC (establishment of an extremist organization and participation therein) and sentenced him to 14 years in jail. The political prisoner serves his term in Penitentiary No. 1 in the town of Navapolatsk.
“Vyasna” has received information that on May 28, 2021, the Navapolatsk Court is to examine the case of imposing a harsher custodial regime on the political prisoner. By decision of Judge Vitalyi Liapka, Aliaksandr could be transferred to a prison cell.