Independent journalist Ales Lyauchuk was to be tried for cooperation with Belsat on June 26, but the trial did not take place. According to the police, the witness Raman Vasilyuk did not appear in court, and therefore the court of Leninski rayon of Brest did not accept the case for consideration.
“A few minutes before the trial, I received a call from the Leninski rayon police department and was told that the court was postponed, because there was no witness, said in an interview with belsat.eu Ales Lyauchuk. – But last time it did not bother them to try me without witnesses, and even without my participation. I very persistently asked them to hold a trial today, but in the court of Leninski rayon of Brest I was told that there was no reasons, they had received no papers for me. I was advised to go to the Leninsky rayon police department which I did.”
The police reacted to the visit of the journalists nervously and did not even give access to the police file. “One of the policemen said that the documents were supposed to be brought to court by another police officer, but he had disappeared with my case. It was obvious that the police were lying. Moreover, Mr Vasilyuk was not even summoned to the court by the police.
Policemen are scared by a huge outcry in the media, and some of them have already privately admitted that they would not want to be their colleagues that are in charge of the administrative case against me,” said the journalist.
Meanwhile, the police have drawn another report on Mr Lyauchuk – this time it was about the reportage about the religious conflict that erupted in the Belavezhski agro-town near Brest.
“I received a call from an ordinary rural district policeman, and during our conversation, he said that he does not want problems but was under pressure from the KGB and his leadership,” says Lyauchuk.
In total, recently, the journalist had two protocols on Part 2 of Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code (“illegal production and distribution of media products”) drawn against him, but it is still unknown, when the trials take place.
Previously, Ales Lyauchuk was already persecuted for cooperation with Belsat. The first trial took place in December 2014. Then it was held with numerous violations. Judge Larysa Nazaranka fined journalist Br 6 million. In March 2015, the judge Raman Karaban fined Ales Lyauchuk for cooperation with Belsat nearly 4 million Br.
In 2015 independent journalists in Belarus have been fined for “illegal production and distribution of media products” Br 108,18 mln.
