used in conjunction with Bancer's activism to charge him with hooliganism, which according to Belarusian law threatened him with imprisonment for up to 3 years. Igor was kept in custody until and throughout his trial, which began on 3 March 2021; starting on that day he spent 16 days on a dry hunger strike, refusing all food and liquids. Amnesty International and other worldwide organisations took an interest in his case. On 15 March 2021, nine organisations, including the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, made a joint statement and recognized him as a political prisoner. The trial's progress was repeatedly artificially delayed, while Bancer's life was on the line. On 16 March 2021, the patronage over the political prisoner was taken by Rasmus Andresen, Member of the European Parliament. Although he was temporarily freed after sentencing, his life-threatening condition induced by the dry hunger strike left him in need of hospitalisation. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 1.5 years of penal labour in a restricted freedom colony in Vitebsk at the other end of Belarus, which began on 17 June 2021 in Open correctional facility No. 9. Bancer was finally released on 17 December 2021 after spending the last 22 days of his sentence in solitary confinement; during his time imprisoned in Vitebsk he spent a total of 82 days isolated from other inmates. 2022 developments On 4 August 2022 the front door to Bancer's apartment in Grodno was broken down and the musician abducted by the Belarusian militsiya. Pro-Lukashenko channels then released a video of Igor criticising the Belarusian opposition and claiming that he would never live in Poland as "he loves Belarus" and out of love for it is "even ready to withstand the hardships associated with staying in a Belarusian prison". His whereabouts were unknown for a week after the arrest until his friend, fellow musician Fyodor Zhyvalievski, revealed that he had visited Igor Bancer in Minsk, where he was being held. Bancer was kept in isolation for 15 days and then another 15 days of imprisonment were added; a number of accusations were made against him, including that of disseminating "extremist materials". Personal life Igor is a committed anti-fascist with a zero tolerance attitude towards racism in the skinhead scene, recognising the multi-cultural and ethnically diverse roots of his musical genre; likewise, he is an outspoken opponent of homophobia