Stand-up comedian, author of the “chik-chirik” meme, sentenced in absentia to 6 years in prison for “insulting” Lukashenko

Stand-up comedian Slava Komisarenko was sentenced in absentia in Belarus to 6 years in prison.

This was reported by the human rights center “Vyasna“, “Radio Svaboda“.

His case was considered in absentia in the Minsk City Court court.

The 39-year-old comedian was accused of “slandering the president” (Part 2, Article 367 of the Criminal Code), “insulting the president” (Part 1, Article 368 of the Criminal Code) and “inciting enmity” (Part 1, Article 130 of the Criminal Code).

Slava Komisarenko – a famous stand-up comedian, a native of Belarus. Every year he performed concerts in different cities of Belarus.

Komisarenko has repeatedly spoken out about the falsification of the results of the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus and condemned violence by security forces.

Also, after the elections, he often joked about the self-proclaimed President Lukashenko in his stand-ups.

Komisarenko is considered the main popularizer of the Chik Chiryk meme about Lukashenko.

At the beginning of 2021, the artist was banned from performing in Minsk, canceling his tour certificates.

In January 2022 In 2009, Komisarenko stated that the Belarusian KGB had put him on the wanted list. According to him, Belarusian security forces had been “calling and writing” to him, but he had already left Belarus by that time.