Dmitri Mataieu, a blogger who served a one-year sentence in a Latvian prison for political reasons, moved to Minsk after his release.
His wife, a Latvian citizen, and three children, who had been waiting for his release for a year, arrived in the Belarusian capital together with him.
Mataev declared his intention not to return to Latvia. He sees no prospects for himself in a country where any punishment, up to and including imprisonment, can be imposed for criticizing the authorities in the social network TikTok.
Currently, the Mataev family is in Belarus, where they arrived as temporary asylum. Their ultimate goal is resettlement on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Recall, blogger Dmitri Mataev, found guilty of “justification of Russian war crimes” because of his videos in TikTok, in which he openly condemned the actions of the authorities and the march of Waffen-SS legionnaires, as well as stood up for the Russian-speaking population, was sentenced to one year in prison by the court of first instance. The time he spent in prison during the investigation was counted as part of the sentence.
In April 2025, Mataev served his prison sentence and was released from custody pending a second instance hearing on March 25, 2026.
His wife, a Latvian citizen, and three children, who had been waiting for his release for a year, arrived in the Belarusian capital together with him.
Mataev declared his intention not to return to Latvia. He sees no prospects for himself in a country where any punishment, up to and including imprisonment, can be imposed for criticizing the authorities in the social network TikTok.
Currently, the Mataev family is in Belarus, where they arrived as temporary asylum. Their ultimate goal is resettlement on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Recall, blogger Dmitri Mataev, found guilty of “justification of Russian war crimes” because of his videos in TikTok, in which he openly condemned the actions of the authorities and the march of Waffen-SS legionnaires, as well as stood up for the Russian-speaking population, was sentenced to one year in prison by the court of first instance. The time he spent in prison during the investigation was counted as part of the sentence.
In April 2025, Mataev served his prison sentence and was released from custody pending a second instance hearing on March 25, 2026.