On 14 July 2020, Vitali was detained at a protest and sentenced to administrative arrest.
On 13 September of the same year, during the "March of Heroes", a protest took place in Brest: people sang and danced in a circle at a crossroads until they were dispersed with a water cannon. The criminal case opened after it became known as the "round dance case", and by May 2022 more than a hundred people had been convicted in it.
In May 2022, Vitali was found guilty in a criminal case brought under the article "Organisation and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them" for taking part in this protest and sentenced to restricted freedom with referral to an open-type correctional facility.
Later, Vitali left Belarus.
In November 2024, a court hearing in absentia on toughening his punishment was held under special proceedings.
