TUT.BY reporter Katsyaryna Barysevich goes at large after six-month imprisonment
Today TUT.BY journalist Katsyaryna Barysevich, who was convicted in early March on the back of her reporting reliable information about the murdered protester Raman Bandarenka’s death, has been released from prison.
On Wednesday morning, friends were waiting for the reporter at the gate of Homiel penal colony to which she was transferred some days ago. At about 7.30 am Katsyaryna Barysevich left the premises of the colony; she phoned her 18-year-old daughter Dasha without delay.
“I was told in advance that I would be released in the morning, and I have been waiting for being called and freed since 4 or 5 am,” Katsyaryna Barysevich said.
Over the six months behind bars, the journalist has received about 500 letters.
According to the woman, she looks forward to hugging her relatives and friends, tasting soup and cheese pancakes made by her mom, going to the village and growing flowers there.
“By the way, when being in the colony, I asked [the administration] to set me for some work, and I was tasked with planting calendula and cornflowers. It was an incredible pleasure,” she said
As a TUT.BY journalist, Katsyaryna wrote crime reports, but now she admits that earlier she was unaware of many details of a prisoner’s life, e.g. how a transfer from a colony to a prison takes place, how defendants are transported to court, etc. She was able to be thankful for small mercies and count blessings even before the sentence; when being in custody, she learned to be calm about all unfair and awful things. Realising that she would have to serve her term, she had to create her own world there, Katsyaryna stressed.
“I knew that the way I would feel was up to me. That is why I practiced dancing and singing and tried to be in a good mood. I was imprisoned, but I did have that sense of inner peace and freedom,” Katsyaryna added.
The reporter also answered the question about the yellow patch on her clothes. According to her, it is indicative of being the colony’s inmate and has nothing to do with colour-coding of political prisoners.
On March 2, Maskouski district court of Minsk passed a guilty verdict in the widely-reported case of TUT.BY journalist Katsyaryna Barysevich and doctor Artsyom Sarokin. Judge Svyatlana Bandarenka sentenced Barysevich to six months of imprisonment in a penal colony and a fine of 2,900 rubles; Sarokin got a two-year jail term with a one-year reprieve and a fine of 1,450 rubles. He was released in the courtroom.
Katsyaryna Barysevich and Artsyom Sarokin were arrested on November, 19 when the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case over allegedly ‘violating medical privacy which entailed grave consequences’ (Art. 178-3). In her article about the tragic death of protester Raman Bandarenka, Barysevich referred to Sarokin, a doctor working at Minsk emergency care hospital. He gave her medical records which showed that there had been no alcohol in the blood of the victim. The Belarusian authorities, including Alyaksandr Lukashenka, keep claiming that Bandarenka was drunk.
Notably, his mother allowed the publication of information about the death, including the data about the absence of alcohol in his blood. Raman Bandarenka’s murderers have not been found or identified yet. His family did not have any claims against the two defendants.
belsat.eu
