Nikolai Dedok

Mikalaj Aljaksandravič Dziadok (Belarusian: Мікалай Аляксандравіч Дзядок) is a prominent Belarusian blogger, journalist, and activist of the anarchist movement. His work focuses on social and political issues, regime criticism, and human rights, which made him a primary target of systematic persecution by the Belarusian authorities.

Personal Details

Date of Birth: August 23, 1988

Status: Former political prisoner

Symbolic Godparent: Tamara Funiciello (Member of the Swiss Parliament)

Arrest and Torture
Mikalaj was arrested late on the evening of November 11, 2020, at a summer house in the village of Sasnovy by GUBOPiK and Ministry of Internal Affairs officers. During the arrest, he was brutally beaten and pepper-sprayed. He was forcibly coerced into recording a "confession" for a police propaganda video.

Following his arrest, he was taken to Minsk, where he was subjected to four hours of torture. Officers beat him with batons, used stun guns on his feet, and threatened him with rape. They demanded passwords and information about the administrators of various Telegram channels.

Sentencing and Prison Conditions
On November 10, 2021, Judge Anastasija Popko found him guilty on three counts of the Criminal Code (organization of actions violating public order, calls for actions damaging national security, and illegal possession of flammable substances). He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Mikalaj did not plead guilty to any of the charges.

His imprisonment was marked by constant pressure:

In December 2021, the prison administration labeled him as "prone to suicide."

In February 2022, he was transferred to the notorious Penal Colony No. 9 (Horki). After refusing to perform work that would lower his social status among inmates, he was repeatedly placed in punishment cells (SHIZO) and cell-type premises (PKT).

In June 2022, Judge Stanislav Liashenko ordered his transfer to prison-style confinement (the harshest regime) in Grodno Prison No. 1.

Release
Although his sentence was set to end in April 2025, authorities initiated a new criminal case against him under Article 411 (willful disobedience to prison administration). However, on September 11, 2025, Mikalaj Dziadok was part of a group of 52 political prisoners forcibly deported from Belarus to Lithuania. He is currently residing in Vilnius.