Yauhen Merkis
Homiel-based Belsat TV contributor Yauhen Merkis, who was repeatedly fined by the Belarusian authorities, has been summoned to the police.
There Merkis will have to give an explanation on the livestreaming he made near Homiel detention center. The live stream appeared on Belsat TV Facebook on March. On that day, the well-known Belarusian blogger Maksim Filipovich was to be released after spending days in the centre, but in vain: in prison he was sentenced to another term.
Livestream in question
“Instead of correcting their own mistakes and tackling the crisis in our country, the authorities keep taking unpopular measures which only deteriorate the situation and draw people’s attention to the current lawlessness,” Merkis said on Facebook.
On April 19, he was BYN 920 fined (nearly $500). The journalist was tried over two cases of the so-called ‘illegal production of media products’. In particular, Merkis covered a ‘non-parasite’ rally in Pinsk and interviewed MP Ihar Marzalyuk during the protests in Mahiliou.
On March 23, Homiel court fined Yauhen Merkis for ‘illegal production and distribution of media products’, i.e. for covering the march of ‘non-parasites’ in Rahachou. He livestreamed protest rallies in Vitsebsk and Homiel as well.
Although Belsat TV is located in Poland, many journalists and contributors work in Belarus. As the Belarusian Foreign Ministery has repeatedly denied registration to the TV station for political reasons, its contributors are at the authorities’ gunpoint for working without it.
In February-March, there has been an eruption of protesting the so-called ‘parasite’ law in Belarus. Hundreds of Belarusians were detained, fined, jailed after recent non-parasite marches. Most of them were accused of violating the order of holding mass events and disobedience to police officers’ demands. It should be noted that plainclothes policemen who refuse to show their IDs a or introduce themselves often beat people and prevented journalists from performing their professional duties.
