Pavel, an anarchist activist, was arrested in March 2021 as part of a criminal case against anarchists from the Brest region. He was convicted of "participating in group actions that grossly violate public order" and "participating in a criminal organization." The charges stemmed from an incident related to the "March of the Non-Parasites," which took place on March 5, 2017, as well as events that occurred outside the Brest Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) in 2016.
In the fall of 2025, another court hearing was held on the charge of "malicious disobedience to the demands of the correctional facility administration," during which Pavel was again sentenced to imprisonment. His total sentence was eight years.
On March 19, 2026, he was released after another visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Lithuania.
