The Belarusian Investigative Committee is carrying out an investigation into the case of a 25-year-old resident of Hrodna region who is also known as Jhon Silver.
Jhon Silver created 1863x.com, a blog dedicated to analysis of the current political developments in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, as well as Belarusian history and culture. The unsigned materials sharply criticize the regime of Lukashenka and Putin. At the beginning of 2016 there were reports that his real name is Eduard Palchys.
According to Silver, two criminal cases were brought against him in 2015 for his activities in the blog – for allegedly inciting ethnic strife (in particular, for the article ‘Kill the Russian World’) and spreading pornography.
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The blogger decided to hide in Ukraine. All the while he lived in Kyiv, from where he continued to work on the blog. But when the blogger went to a meeting in Russia in January 2016, he was arrested and put in jail.
On May 26, Eduard Palchys was transferred from Russia’s Bryansk predetention centre to Minsk remand prison.
According to the Investigative Committee, Palchys may face up to 5 years of imprisonment for ‘inciting hatred’ and up to two or for years in jail – for allegedly distributing pornography.
“The defendant, who was a website manager at 1863x.com, posted information pieces which contained signs of inciting ethnic hatred, as well as images of pornographic content, which is confirmed by expert examinations,” the Committee says.
