Valery Kalinkovich, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, advised Belsat TV cameraman Ales Barazenka to appeal against his sentence to a higher court.
At today’s press conference, Kalinkovich was asked what he thought about the fact that a Minsk court sentenced a Belarusian journalist to 15 days in prison for the phrase: “I’m a journalist!”
“If a person does not agree with the ruling delivered by a court of primary jurisdiction, they may appeal to a court above. Exclusive competence to assess all the evidence in a particular case belongs to the court – a court of the first instance, the court of the second instance,” Tut.by quotes the top official.
“Mr Kalinkovich might as well recommend someone who was attacked to ask his offenders to investigate his case. The Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court just dropped that excuse hoping the journalists would leave him alone. Valery Kalinkovich understands how the system works, he is part of it, he realizes that appeals will yield no result. I’m going to bring the case to international courts,” Ales Barazenka told Belsat TV.
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Our colleague was arrested during the live broadcast from the non-parasite march and Freedom Day celebration in Minsk, accused of ‘disorderly conduct’ and sentenced to 15 days in jail. According to riot policemen who were witnessing in court Ales was shouting, waving his hands, using bad language. After being detained, Ales Barazenka went on hunger-strike in protest.
While in a paddy wagon, Ales Barazenka got in touch with our colleagues in the studio. Our cameraman tried to start a live stream from the paddy wagon, but due to the disruption of the 3G and 4G network it lasted for a short time.
The video above features Barazenka saying ‘I am a journalist! I am a journalist!’ when the police were arresting him. No strong language was used.
