'She stood by and nodded, urging me to talk' What journalists are accused of nowadays


Independent journalists are a ‘target’ again.

Are you an independent journalist? You could get a fine. The reason can be anything. The resolution of the Rahachou court quoted the witness. According to him, during the interview, Homiel journalist Natallya Kryvashey stood by and nodded in support, that is, she urged him to go on with conversation. The Court had no doubt that this is sufficient for the offense and the fine of 35 basic units. In the same case, the same penalty was given to Kanstantsin Zhukousky.

“This indicates that there is no longer anything new that they can impute a person with. The only thing they are left with is feigning something. Previously, when they said that you worked for a Polish or Japanese intelligence, you got executed. Now, they concoct the same baseless accusations, but give huge fines,” said Kanstantsin Zhukousky.

Both journalists were sentenced by the court for working without accreditation for foreign media. But in fact, according to the law, the responsibility lies with the editorial board and media distributors, rather than particular journalist.

“Besides, we all know that the right to collect and disseminate information is guaranteed to everyone by the Constitution. And of course, citizens should not be prosecuted for administrative cases,” said human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka.

Government bodies are looking for alternative approaches to independent journalists as well. For Zmitser Lupach from Hlubokaye the visit to tax authorities ended up with talk with the KGB and the recruitment attempt.

“They also warned me that I could be convicted under article “discrediting Belarus” and that I, according to them, give an unsightly image of Belarus in the Lithuanian and Polish media,” said Dzmitry Lupach.

According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, increasing pressure on journalists questioned the freedom of covering the presidential election campaign.

“The are no real elections in the country, and the political persecution related to the electoral calendar are very real. They get worse from election to election. It is primarily the pressure on journalists and human rights community,” said Deputy Chairman of the NGO Belarusian Association of Journalists Mikhail Yanchuk.

In the case of journalists, the courts choose a virtually unlimited right to punish by the ruble. This year, freelance journalist have been fined more than 110 million rubles. Most of those convicted were fined for materials that appeared on the air of our channel.

Volha Klyauchenya, belsat.eu/en/

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