Five Belsat TV contributors have been summoned to courts and the police.
Alyaksandr Barazenka is to appear at 15.00 on October 30 at Tsentralny district court of Minsk. A case under Art. 22.9 of the Administrative Code of Belarus ( ‘illegal production and distribution of media products) has been opened against the journalist.
On the same day, Andrus Kozel and Volha Czajczyc are to be present at Tsentralny district court of Minsk an 15.00 and 16.00 correspondingly. They are also charged with ‘illegal production and distribution of media products’, i.e. for working for foreign mass media without accreditation.
Journalist Valeryia Ulasik was informed of her trial at 11:00 on October 20 in Leninski district court of Minsk. The administrative article was not specified.
Homiel-based journalist Kastus Zhukouski has been summoned by police officer A.Paltaran. He will be questioned today in Kalinkavichy district police department.
- 127 days behind bars, $125K fines: 10 years of Belsat TV work in Belarus
- Fine imposed, camera seized: Belsat TV reporter Ales Barazenka in crosshairs
- ‘No violation’. Belsat TV contributor attacked, police stand still
Belsat TV which has been broadcasting for nearly ten years, has been denied accreditation for its journalists during these very nine years. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly declared that it could not issue any accreditation to Belsat because the journalists working for the TV station … break the law.
Thus, the circle closes: journalists are denied accreditation because they break the law and they break the law, because they work without accreditation that they seek… And it explains the existence of absurdist Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code, which provides punishment for ‘illegal production and distribution of media products’. If you have accreditation, you are allowed be a journalist. If you do not have it – you are outlawed.
