The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on Belarusian authorities to consider the case of three Belarusian-born authors of Russia’s Regnum portal with due diligence and responsibility.
“We have received information that the case of the Belarusian citizens who contributed to Russian news resources and were accused of inciting racial, national, religious or other hatred has been taken to Minsk City Court.
We would like to urge the Belarusian side to be strictly adherent to the commitments made, primarily in terms of the preservation of freedom of expression, when considering the criminal case,” the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at Thursday’s briefing.
Belarusians Yury Paulavets (pennames Mikalay Radau and Pavel Yuryntsau), Dzmitry Alimkin (penname Alla Bron) and Syarhei Shyptsenka were detained in December, 2016. The Belarusian Investigative Committee initiated criminal cases under article 130 (inciting hatred) against them. Paulavets criticized the Belarusian authorities for their contribution to the ‘nationalism’ while Alimkin called Belarus a ‘mad pseudostate’. As for Shyptsenka, the ideas of the ‘artificial’ nature of Belarusian statehood and the need for ‘reunification’ with Russia run through his publications like a golden thread. The texts concerned were published on Russian websites Regnum, Lenta.ru, EADaily.
There is another defendant in the case – Yury Baranchyk, a former resident of Minsk, who was a mentor of the three men mentioned above. He used to Work in the Belarus presidential administration. Since 2007 — the head of the “Empire” information analytical portal. A few years ago, he left for Russia. He regularly writes articles for regnum.ru and slams Minsk for ‘forced Belarusization’.
In March, Yury Baranchyk was detained in Moscow at the request of Belarusian investigators, but then released on bail. A court in Moscow did not issue a warrant for his arrest saying that the accusations were groundless.
belsat.eu
