Nikita Storozhenko is a former detective. He resigned after the presidential elections of Belarus in 2020 in protest against the current government. After his dismissal, Nikita worked as a lawyer.
He was detained on April 23, 2021 for "unauthorized picketing", convicted and sentenced to 15 days in prison according to Article part 1 of Article 24.23 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. He was released on May 8, 2021.
On May 4, 2021, Storozhenko, like other law enforcement officials who resigned in protest, was deprived of the rank of senior lieutenant of justice reserve by Lukashenka.
Nikita was detained again on February 1, 2022 in a shopping center in Minsk. In a video posted on the telegram channel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he says that he transferred the contacts of two employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption and the deputy head of the Investigative Committee for Minsk to one of the "protest telegram channels".
The trial took place on November 15, 2022 in the Minsk City Court. Nikita was tried for "inciting other social enmity and discord" under Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, as well as for "illegal collection and dissemination of information about private life" (Part 1 of Article 179 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus).
On December 2, 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in a high-security penal colony. he is also obliged to pay a fine of 5 000 BYN (2 056 USD) as moral compensation to employees, whose data, according to the prosecution, he transmitted to the "protest telegram channel".
