At least 40 journos detained in Belarus before and during today's protests


The post-election protests have been lasting for over two months in Belarus. To prevent the uncensored covering of Sunday’s marches, the police have detained more than 40 media workers in different corners of the country.

The journalists, including Belsat TV contributors, were taken to police stations in Minsk, Brest, Hrodna, Vitsebsk, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reports.

Since morning, the police had been on watch near the block of flats our Minsk-based colleague Zmitser Mitskevich dwells in. The journalist was supposed to report from today’s march in the Belarusian capital, but he was driven to Kastrychnitski district police department, where he was charged with disobeying the orders of the policemen who were detaining him.

In Vitsebsk, siloviki grabbed our reporter Zmitser Kazakevich just from the street. A Belsat viewer managed to capture the moment:

ZDetention of Zmitser Kazakevich in Vitsebsk. 11 October 2020.

Belsat TV contributors Milana Kharytonava and Ales Lyauchuk were detained not far from Warsaw Bridge in Brest.

As reported earlier, Larysa Shchyrakova was stopped by Homiel traffic police and placed in detention on October 9; the journalist is to be tried on Monday.

On September 26, Alena Dounar got 15-day jail term and a fine of 1,350 rubles for allegedly taking part in an illegal rally and disobeying the police’s orders. Alena was to be released on October 11, but she was taken to the notorious detention centre in Akrestsin Street in Minsk; she is facing another trial.

Viktar Yarashuk, a resident of Pinsk, was sentenced to 10 days in prison. However, as he appealed against the sentence, he is remaining free so far.

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2020.09.30 13:13

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