Pavel is an entrepreneur from Homiel and the owner of the Krasotka chain of cosmetics shops. He openly criticised the authorities on social media, and in 2021 he was fined in an administrative case "for distributing information products containing calls for extremist activity". From December 2021, pro-government Telegram channels ran a smear campaign against him.
In February 2022, riot police officers detained Pavel right in his shop and handcuffed him. According to the prosecution, in September 2020 he posted on VKontakte a screenshot showing the protests on Savetskaya Street in Homiel, called the security forces "subhumans" and expressed the hope that they "will answer for the crimes against their own people". Pavel admitted publishing the post but denied any intent to incite hatred.
In August 2022, Pavel was found guilty in a criminal case opened under the article "Incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or hatred" for this post about the security forces.
Released in November 2023 after serving the full sentence imposed by the court.
