Andrey Kuznechyk, a freelance journalist and a Minsk-based contributor of RFE/RL, has not been released from prison after serving a ten-day term of administrative arrest.
The arrest term expired, but Kuznechyk remained in the detention centre, his family told RFE/RL. It is yet unclear on what grounds the journalist was detained.
On November 25, Andrey Kuznechyk was reported to be out of reach. Later it became known that he was detained by four people in plain clothes during a bike ride. His flat was searched; computer equipment and other things were seized. On the same evening, the police gained access to the Radio Svaboda Telegram channel for a while: as a result, it started publishing insulting remarks about its own posts and links to pro-government outlets and social media profiles.
As a result, Zavodski district court of Minsk found Andrey Kuznechyk guilty of ‘petty hooliganism’ and sentenced him to 10 days in jail. The defendant pleaded not guilty.
The Kuznechyk family lives in Minsk and has two small children. Andrey Kuznechyk is also a philologist, cyclist, and blogger.
As reported earlier, the Belarusian authorities recognised the Telegram channel of Radio Svaboda as extremist. By the moment, more than 300 Telegram channels and chats in Belarus are on the ‘extremist’ list. Earlier this year, the websites of Belsat, TUT.by, Tribuna, reform.by, Deutsche Welle, Novy Chas, Current Time and others were declared ‘extremist’. It should be noted that the words ‘extremism’ and ‘destructive activity’ are now used by the Lukashenka regime to condemn any manifestation of dissent and protest moods.
Thus, anyone who shares news of the ‘extremist’ portals or even a photo with their logo in social networks or even private messages may be punished. Moreover, the Belarusian security officers interpret the law so that they also punish for posts and messages made before the recognition of materials as ‘extremist’. Under Article 19.11, a fine from 290 to 870 rubles may be imposed on the defendant, as well as administrative arrest and confiscation of equipment which is recognised as ‘means for committing a crime’.
