A prisoner sentenced under article 328 shared the story of receiving a 10-year imprisonment term
Andrey (name changed) lived in a small town in Belarus but commuted to work in Europe. He occasionally used drugs. When he returned home once, law enforcement officers started monitoring him. Andrey doesn’t know why he attracted attention, stating, «Maybe someone reported me,» the man says.
When he was arrested, he had 2 tablets with psychoactive substances and 12 grams of cannabis. His colleague, who was present at the time and also had psychoactive substances, claimed that Andrey gave them to him. As Andrey had a previous conviction, the judge sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment with strict regime colony under part 3 of article 328. Interestingly, during the trial, they also presented a phone call recording allegedly discussing the purchase of pills. The situation arose when Andrey returned from Europe with a car that needed repair. In a conversation with a tire service employee, he mentioned needing 2 wheels (in Russian, pills are sometimes referred to by the slang word «kolesa», which also means wheels for a car). Due to this phrase, the interlocutor also underwent a search, was summoned to court, and was threatened to testify against Andrey and himself. However, the man did not give in, appealed to higher authorities, and eventually was left alone.
Andrey filed a cassation complaint for a case review. The charge was reclassified to part 2 of article 328. Due to this and the reduction of the lower limit of punishment under part 2 of article 328, he ended up serving a total of 4 years in prison. However, due to his work in an industrial zone, he fell under amnesty, allowing him to be released after three years.
Andrey also shared that the treatment of inmates in prison was poor, and they could be beaten over any minor issue. However, this experience gave the man nothing but lost years of freedom and did not eliminate his desire to use psychoactive substances. After his release, Andrey left the country and has no plans to return.
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