Andrei Paheryla is a former mechanic and repairman of the Ammonia-3 workshop at Grodno Azot, a major Belarusian nitrogen compounds and fertilizers producer. He and his colleague were criminalised for hanging the Belarusian national flag on a television tower during the 2020 protests.

Andrei was a member of the company's strike committee. He was arrested on September 17, 2021, as part of a criminal investigation for 'high treason' involving several employees of Belarusian factories who supported local strikes in 2020 and were members of the Rabochy Rukh labor rights group. On September 21, 2021, Rabochy Rukh was labeled as an ""extremist"" initiative, a decision that sparked the arrests of many workers across the country. In addition, Andrei was charged with defamation and with the creation of and participation in an extremist formation.

At the trial, all the defendants refused to plead guilty to treason and creating an extremist formation. They also refused to testify.

Andrei has two minor kids.