2 Belarusian journalists sent to prison for covering protest against Lukashenko
Two Belarusian journalists who live-streamed a rally against the country’s authoritarian leader late last year have been sentenced to two years behind bars.
Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 27, who also uses the last name Andreyeva, and Daria Chultsova, 23, were arrested on Nov. 15 after filming an anti-government rally from the window of a 14th-floor apartment in Minsk.
The pair, who work for the Polish-funded Belsat TV channel, had been filming the demonstration for several hours, before police broke down the door to the apartment to arrest them, Sky News reported.
According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, a Minsk-based organization that provides assistance to political prisoners and their families, the two were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment in a general-security penitentiary.
On Thursday, Judge Natallia Buhuk found them guilty of involvement in “group actions gravely breaching public order.”
During their trial earlier this month the prosecution argued that they incited violence by live-streaming the demonstration in the Belarusian capital.
On the day of the protest, however, mobile internet was shut down in Minsk, and protesters couldn’t watch the live broadcast, according to Viasna.
They were charged with “organizing actions rudely violating public order” — accusations that they both denied.
“In fact, we have established that Katsiaryna Bakhvalava carried out the work of a journalist,” defense lawyer Siarhei Zikratski said during the hearings.
“For these actions, she and Darya Chultsova have been behind bars for more than three months. We believe that there is no corpus delicti (evidence a crime was committed) in the actions of Bakhvalava and Chultsova,” Zikratski added.
Addressing the court before the verdict was read, Bakhvalava vowed to continue working for “building a Belarus that won’t have political repressions,” The Associated Press reported.
“I’m not pleading. I’m demanding acquittal for me and my colleagues,” she said, referring to other jailed journalists.
The U.S. Embassy condemned “the political convictions and egregious prison sentences” for the pair, urging authorities “to cease the persecution and prosecution of journalists and media outlets for covering the news.”
“The United States reiterates that Belarusian authorities have a commitment to protect and uphold fundamental freedoms, especially those of assembly, speech, and the press,” the embassy said in a statement.
Tell your friends about what is happening in Belarus. Tell your colleagues, post on social media. The world must see this lawlessness & state terror by Lukashenka.
Imprisoned journalists, politicians, activists, students, doctors, peaceful protesters, even kids. #StandWithBelarus pic.twitter.com/9wwZUNs5vj— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) February 18, 2021
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, took to Twitter to express outrage over the sentencing.
“Tell your friends about what is happening in Belarus. Tell your colleagues, post on social media. The world must see this lawlessness & state terror by Lukashenka,” she wrote. “Imprisoned journalists, politicians, activists, students, doctors, peaceful protesters, even kids.”
“Judge Natallia Buhuk sentenced journalists and my friends Kaciaryna and Dasha to two years in a penal colony. Two years in a penal colony! For the truth. For being a journalist,” Tsikhanouskaya’s senior advisor, Franak Viacorka, wrote in another tweet. “Shame on Lukashenka’s regime!”
