A Minsk court has imposed a fine of 1,225 Belarusian rubles ($600) on Belsat TV journalist Katsyaryna Andreyeva for covering July’s press conference in the restaurant Let’s Go And Eat.
It should be noted that the journalists were asked to get accreditation in advance. Katsyaryna Andreyeva obtained the organizers’ permit to report from the event.
Leanid Zaydes, one of the owners of the restaurant, did not respond to reporters’ questions, but said that the company was ready to cooperate with all civil activists and organizations eager to tackle the issue of Kurapaty. In addition, he said that he had no intention to close the restaurant or ‘negotiate with the blackmailers’.
It was the thirteenth administrative case that had been opened against the reporter under Article 22.9 (illegal production and distribution of media products). The latest sentence has been passed by Judge Syarhei Shatsila.
Kurapaty, a place on the outskirts of Minsk, is not just the national memorial and a mass grave of the victims of Stalinist repression; since 1993, it has been is a site of historical and cultural heritage. According to historians, 100,000 – 250,000 persons might have been killed there.
For over 100 days, Kurapaty defenders keep protesting against ‘dancing on the bones’, i.e. opening the restaurant Let’s Go And Eat in the vicinity of the mass grave. Activists first asked the authorities to interfere with the situation, and then decided to act independently. They are trying not to let cars to the territory of the restaurant.
КА, belsat.eu
