A Minsk court has started considering the case of three Belarusian-born authors of Russia’s Regnum portal on Monday.
Belarusians Yury Paulavets (pennames Mikalay Radau and Pavel Yuryntsau), Dzmitry Alimkin (penname Alla Bron) and Syarhei Shyptsenka were detained in December, 2016. The Belarusian Investigative Committee initiated criminal cases under article 130 (inciting hatred) against them. Paulavets criticized the Belarusian authorities for their contribution to the ‘nationalism’ while Alimkin called Belarus a ‘mad pseudostate’. As for Shyptsenka, the ideas of the ‘artificial’ nature of Belarusian statehood and the need for ‘reunification’ with Russia run through his publications like a golden thread. The texts concerned were published on Russian websites Regnum, Lenta.ru, EADaily.
According to the investigators, Syarhei Shyptsenka did jobs and rendered services on the coverage of social and political events without registering as a self-employed person. He has received his payments personally from customers and by electronic transfers since 2013.
‘Hard Consequences Of A Mild Belarusization’, ‘Vyshyvanka Frenzy’ – these are titles of some articles written by Shyptsenka.
According to the author, the Radziwill Bible (1516) ‘is of no value’ to Belarusians because it was published in Polish; Slutsk belts are also of Polish heritage.
Articles by Dzmitry Allimkin could have contributed to emerging a conflict in the mould of that of Ukraie in Belarus, the prosecutor stressed.
“The author expressed a positive attitude towards historical events condemned by most Belarusians, e.g. Stalin’s curtailing the policy of Belarusization,” the text of the charge reads.
Yury Paulavets is accused of illegal business activities in the form of collecting and distributing information materials in mass media without registration. Moreover, experts found signs of incitement to national hatred in his works.
According to them, Paulavets focused on Belarusians’ alleged intolerance to Russians, criticised ‘nationalist discourse’ of Belarusian history textbooks and told about ‘dismissals’ of pro-Russian university professors in his articles.
There is another defendant in the case – Yury Baranchyk, a former resident of Minsk, who was a mentor of the three men mentioned above. He used to Work in the Belarus presidential administration. Since 2007 — the head of the “Empire”information analytical portal. A few years ago, he left for Russia. He regularly writes articles for regnum.ru and slams Minsk for ‘forced Belarusization’.
In March, Yury Baranchyk was detained in Moscow at the request of Belarusian investigators, but then released on bail. A court in Moscow did not issue a warrant for his arrest saying that the accusations were groundless.
