Journalists Alyaksandr Dzyanisau and Alyaksandr Kirkevich have been punished for making reportage for Belsat. Now they will fight for their rights in the European Court of Human Rights.
Alyaksandr Dzyanisau and Alyaksandr Kirkevich received a druling to dismiss the appeal from the Hrodna regional court on May 26. The case was examined on May 19, but for various reasons the journalists were unable to attend the court hearing.
Following the hearing on April 22, the judge of the Hrodna Leninsky rayon court, Alena Petrova, recognized the Hrodna journalists guilty of violating Art. 22.9 of the Administrative Code for making a video clip fro Belsat without Foreign Ministry’s accreditation. The reportage was about the exhibition of Slutsk belts in Hrodna History of Religion museum. The court ruled to fine each of them 20 basic units or 3.6 million rubles.
“Some say there is liberalization ahead of the elections. They say that Lukashenka and representatives of the Information Ministry are beginning to negotiate with some foreign counterparts about the activities of sites and channels. But it is unlikely to affect specific freelancers and specific people who work here “in the field”. So far, at least, these signals have not been visible, just the opposite. People who work for “not fully correct” media create obstacles for normal operation,” commented on the court decision Ales Kirkevich.
