Investigative Committee of Belarus initiated a criminal case against Sergei Mikhalka, leader of the band “Liapis Trubetskoy,” reported the Zerkalo newspaper and the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty on 18 May, citing a statement of the agency.
The musician is accused of inciting hatred (Article 130 of the Criminal Code of Belarus) and insulting Alexander Lukashenko (Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Belarus). The first article provides for punishment from a fine to five years of imprisonment. Under the article on insulting Lukashenko, Mikhalka faces up to four years in prison.
It’s not specified what exactly caused the case. “Zerkalo” notes that in 2024, Belarus declared “extremist” the song “Don’t be a cattle” (“don’t be a cattle”), created in 2011 on the verses of the classic of Belarusian literature Yanka Kupala.
The investigators invited Mikhalka to voluntarily appear in the Minsk Department of the Investigative Committee. The case will be considered in the framework of “special proceedings,” that is, in absentia.
Sergei Mikhalok is a Belarusian and Ukrainian musician, one of the founders of the bands Lyapis Trubetskoy and Brutto. In 2015, he received a residence permit in Ukraine, and five years later he became an Honoured Artist of Ukraine.