Police Arrested Navapolatsk Resident For His Vacation Picture With Georgian And Ukrainian Flags

He was accused of an "unauthorized rally".

The Navapolatsk Court considered the case against a local resident on August 17. He was arrested yesterday morning. The man was charged under Art. 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (Unauthorized rally). The reason for the arrest was his picture from a vacation in Georgia published on Instagram, in which he stands against the backdrop of mountains and flags of Georgia and Ukraine.

The photo was published on August 8, 2021, but the police noticed it only two years later, according to human rights activists.

“From August 8, 2021, to 12:00 July 11, 2023, the man staged an ‘unauthorized rally’, expressing socio-political, personal and other views, by publishing in public access on Instagram and spreading his and blue-yellow cloth picture among other users,” to the police charge sheet reads.

The resident of Navapolatsk partially admitted his guilt in court. He explained that he posted a photo on his page in memory of the tourist trip to Georgia in 2021, which also included the image of the flags of Georgia and Ukraine, but he did not have any protest goal.

As a result, Judge Zinaida Balabolova found the man guilty of "rallying" with the Ukrainian flag and sentenced him to 15 days of arrest.