Political prisoner released, who came from Russia and got stuck in Belarus for three years under absurd circumstances
Alexander Smirnov was released after a three-month arrest, got drunk, and started tearing down red-green flags — to keep them as a memento of his stay in Belarus. He received a new sentence.
Alexander Smirnov. Photo: VKontakte
It became known about the release of 28-year-old Belarusian political prisoner, Russian citizen Alexander Smirnov. The guy had no intention of expressing any political position, but fate had it that he ended up in a Belarusian colony.
Alexander Smirnov is a Muscovite. Judging by his social networks, he served in the army and worked in a grocery store in his homeland.
It is unclear when and for what reason Smirnov ended up in Belarus, but in April 2023, he was detained for theft and hooliganism. He received three months of arrest for two criminal cases.
In June 2023, Smirnov was released and immediately found new adventures. The Russian successively tore down four red-green flags. First, at one of the stores — he grabbed it with his hands, tore it off with a metal bracket, broke the pole, and threw the flag to the ground. Then he removed a flag from a house near a metro station and gave it to a subway employee. Next, he removed a flag from the facade of the "Belposhta" building and left it near the entrance. And finally, he tore down another banner, threw it at a public transport stop, and set it on fire. That same night, Alexander set fire to a plastic waste container.
Alexander Smirnov. Photo: VKontakte
In court, Smirnov said that he tore down the flags because he was drunk and wanted to keep them as a memento of his stay in Belarus and hang them at home. And he accidentally set fire to the trash can when he threw an unextinguished cigarette butt into it. After that, he called the firefighters.
Nevertheless, the Russian citizen received a harsh sentence — he was given as many as three years in a penal colony. He fully served his sentence in the colony in Volchy Nory.
"Stumbled, fell —
It's a terrible torment —
And in a glass I searched
For my fate, you bitch!" — Alexander Smirnov now publishes verses.
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