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Ukrainian citizen Artem Makovey has been sentenced in Belarus on charges of espionage, the Belarusian human rights group Viasna Brest reported on May 20.
The Brest Regional Court delivered the verdict to Makovey, born in 1999, last week. The young man, who had lived in Belarus since 2009, was sentenced to six years in prison.
The specific charges against him remain unknown because the trial was held behind closed doors. The only available information is the article under which Makovey was tried: Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, "Espionage." Judge Nikolai Senko presided over the case.
Belarusian KGB officers detained Makovey in January 2023 at his home in Kobryn. Initially, he spent two months in the Brest temporary detention facility without any interrogations or clear understanding of the charges against him. It took a year and three months after his arrest for the case to reach court. During this entire period, Makovey remained in custody. Before his arrest, Makovey worked as a DJ in Brest, Kobryn, and Minsk.
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