Ihar Bantser Released After 45 Days Of Detention

The Hrodna musician was detained in early August.

Hrodna musician and activist Ihar Bantser was released after 45 days of administrative arrest, Mediazona reports with reference to his relatives.

According to his relatives, Ihar "is in a difficult moral and physical state now".

Recall that Ihor was detained in early August. Pro-government Telegram channels reported that they were considering initiating a criminal case against him under article 130 of the Criminal Code (“Inciting racial, national, religious or other social hatred or discord”) because of his posts on social media.

Three protocols were drawn up against the musician for “distributing extremist materials” (Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The court sentenced him to 15 days of arrest on each of the protocols.

Ihar Bantser is a well-known Hrodna activist and musician, the leader of the street punk band Mister X. He is 42 years old and has three children. After the 2020 protests, he was already tried for "hooliganism" and sentenced to a year and a half in an open prison. During the trial, Ihar went on hunger strikes several times, including a dry hunger strike for more than two weeks.

He decided to stay in his homeland after the release.