The leader of 'Lyapis Trubetskoy' was sentenced in absentia to four years in a penal colony in Belarus

The leader of 'Lyapis Trubetskoy' was sentenced in absentia to four years in a penal colony in Belarus 0

The Minsk City Court sentenced the leader of the bands 'Lyapis Trubetskoy' and Brutto, Sergey Mikhalok, to four years in a general regime penal colony. The musician, who currently lives in Estonia, was found guilty of insulting Alexander Lukashenko and inciting social hatred.

The Minsk City Court has sentenced the leader of the bands 'Lyapis Trubetskoy' and Brutto, Sergey Mikhalok, to four years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony in absentia.

Since the musician resides in Estonia and is outside of Belarus, the case was considered in a special proceeding — without his presence. The sentence has not yet entered into legal force and can be appealed.

Although the official statement from the prosecutor's office did not name the convicted individual, it referred only to a 'soloist of a Belarusian band.' However, the circumstances clearly indicate Sergey Mikhalok.

According to the prosecution, in 2021–2022, the musician published videos on YouTube and on social media of the band Brutto, in which he spoke negatively and in obscene terms about Alexander Lukashenko.

In addition, the prosecutor's office considered a video published in March 2022, in which Mikhalok sharply criticized Belarusian security forces and military personnel, as incitement of social hatred.

The musician's conflict with the Belarusian authorities has been ongoing for many years. Last year, one of the most famous songs of 'Lyapis Trubetskoy,' 'Not to Be a Cattle,' written to the verses of the classic of Belarusian literature Yanka Kupala, was recognized as 'extremist' in Belarus.

After the dissolution of the band 'Lyapis Trubetskoy,' Sergey Mikhalok created the Brutto project. Since the end of 2014, he has lived in Ukraine, where he obtained permanent residency, and in 2020 he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine.

After the start of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, the musician moved to Estonia.

In May 2025, the Investigative Committee of Belarus officially included the musician in the list of individuals for whom special proceedings were initiated to issue an in absentia sentence.

The sentence has not yet come into force; however, the case has become another episode of the persecution of Sergey Mikhalok by the Belarusian authorities for his public criticism of the current regime.