Media: Political Prisoner Valentin Shtermer Died

After his stroke, he was thrown in the SHU.

Political prisoner Valentin Shtermer, who was serving a five-year prison sentence for comments in Shklou PK-17, has died. Earlier, the man suffered a stroke, reports "Nasha Niva" citing a source.

The publication notes that the circumstances of the tragedy are not clear. The exact date of death is unknown - only that it happened in early 2025. It is also not certain whether Shtermer died in the colony or was taken to a hospital - prison or civilian.

At the time of his death Valentin Shtermer was 61 or 62 years old. He was a Homel resident. According to the Digital Intelligence Team, Valentin was born in the Khmelnitsky region of Ukraine, in the town of Polonnoye. He moved to Homel no later than 2002.

It is known that he has a son from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage.

Before his imprisonment, Stermer worked in various places. From 2002 to 2009, he had the status of an individual entrepreneur, worked as head of the design and technical department in a private enterprise, and managed the construction firm Avangardbusinessresource. His last place of work was the state enterprise "Red Carnations", engaged in landscaping and beautification in Homel and Homel region.

Valentin Shtërmer was arrested in June 2023. He was accused of leaving eight comments against Russian aggression, in which he allegedly insulted the Russian military and incited hostility towards them. He was also accused of insulting Lukashenka, as well as of involvement in a certain "extremist formation"

As a result, on October 4, 2023, Judge Sergei Baginski of the Gomel Regional Court sentenced him to five years in a penal colony. About two months later, the appeals court affirmed the sentence. Shtërmer was included in the list of "extremists" and "terrorists".

After that Shtërmer was escorted to Shklou, to colony No. 17. In the same detachment with him was political prisoner Dmitry Luksha, who was released on pardon in the summer of 2024. He told "Nasha Niva" what was happening to Shtërmer:

"Valentin was very weak. He came to the colony after a stroke. I don't know, maybe it seized him in the pre-trial detention center. He was lifted from quarantine in such a state. He was thrown into the SHIZO in front of me.

It was very hard to be in the same detachment with him, because it was already very difficult for him to live, and the cops kept sending him to work.

Valentin spoke very slowly, and walked with difficulty - when we were walking from work, he always lagged behind, because he didn't have time. Plus in the winter he slipped and fell. He had either a broken arm or a dislocation.

The current head of the Shklou colony is Alexandr Kornienko. He is a former officer of the Mogilev OMON, who was dismissed from the bodies for a while, but then was reinstated. He has been running the colony since 2018. It was there that political prisoner Vitold Ashurok died under unclear circumstances on May 21, 2021.

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