The criminal case that was opened against Nasha Niva employees Andrey Skurko and Yahor Martsinovich has been submitted to court, nashaniva.com reports.
In late July, Yahor Martsinovich, editor-in-chief of the media outlet Nasha Niva, and Andrey Skurko, the head of its advertising and marketing department and a former editor, were charged under Part 2 of Article 216 of the Criminal Code (‘infliction of property damage without signs of embezzlement by a group of persons’). If found guilty, they may face up to 5 years of restriction of liberty or up to 5 years in prison.
According to the case file, Andrey Skurko and Yahor Martsinovich, as officials of the publishing company, carried out business activities from May 2017 to June 2021 in the apartment belonging to Skurko. The prosecution claims that the payment for the public utilities was made according to the rates for physical persons. At the same time, it was necessary to pay according to the rates for legal entities. Investigators also calculated that due to that, the companies Minenergo and Minskvodokanal lost over 10,000 Belarusian rubles. Skurko and Martsinovich have already provided redress for the damage claimed.
On 8 July 2021, searches took place in the Minsk office of the Nasha Niva as well as in the apartments of employees – both journalists and accountants. Moreover, the news website, nn.by, was blocked on the back of the decision by the Belarusian Ministry of Information.
Then editor-in-chief Yahor Martsinovich, editorial director Andrey Dynko, editor Andrey Skurko, NN chief accountant Volha Rakovich were detained for 72 hours as suspects under Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code (‘organisation or preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or participation in them’). Later, Dynko and Rakovich were released. However, Andrey Skurko and Yahor Martsinovich remained behind bars and faced a new charge. The Belarusian human rights community listed them as political prisoners.
On 27 January 2022, the ‘group of citizens from among the private firm Surodzichy’ was recognised as ‘an extremist group united with the help of Internet resources, including social networks and messengers’. In fact, the Belarusian Interior Ministry referred to the team that has been engaged in running the website Nasha Niva (nn.by) and publishing information on it and its social media platforms.
Earlier, 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’.
