The police framed TUT.BY’s Alyaksei Sudnikau and Nadzeya Kalinina; Komsomolskaya Pravda’s Mikita Nedaverkau, Maryia Elyashevich, Svyataslau Zorki; BelaPAN’s Andrey Shavluha. Dressed in PRESS vests, they were reporting from the march and rally held by Belarusian students on Knowledge Day; all of them have accreditations.
About twenty colleagues spent the night in front of the police station as a sign of protest against the authorities’ pressure on independent media.
The detainees were expected to stand trial today, but, according to the latest information, the cases of TUT.BY employees have been sent for revision. However, the journalists continue to be kept in custody. Accused of participating in an unauthorised mass event, each of them may face fine or up to 15 days of administrative arrest.
On September 1, lots of students took to the streets in the morning to protest against vote rigging and the authorities’ harsh response to dissidence. Some of them also showed up at the rally of solidarity with Belarusian Catholics in Independence Square. About 80 persons were detained during Tuesday’s protests, Belarusian human rights defenders report.
