The Prosecutor General’s Office has sentenced a Free Europe Minsk reporter to a year and a half in prison for his participation in mass demonstrations following the 2020 presidential election, which many say was cheated.
The trial of Aleh Khrushchev began on Wednesday, which was barred from his supporters, friends and colleagues despite the fact that many seats in the courtroom were left empty.
The journalist’s wife, Marjana, may have been present but she could not speak with her husband while an employee of the Russian news agency Sputnik managed to get close to the glass cage in which the accused was being held.
A representative of the complainant, the Minsk City Transport Company, told the judge that the man had caused material damage to the company by participating in three illegal demonstrations. The company has demanded compensation of more than twenty thousand dollars for it.
Hrozdzilovic denied his conviction and emphasized that he was present as a journalist working on the protests. He emphasized that one of the two movements has accreditation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the other two movements were covered in the Narodnaya Volya newspaper (People’s Will). This was confirmed by Joseph Edge, one of the newspaper’s editors.
Aleh Hrozdzilovic was rearrested last December after being released once a month in the summer and having his accreditation revoked by authorities a year ago.
Jimmy Fly, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, condemned the actions and stated that ‘Journalism is not a crime’.
The system tightens more
In Belarus, after months of cheating the 2020 presidential election, people demanded the departure of Alexander Lukashenko, who has been leading the country since 1994, in mass demonstrations. The police suppressed the demonstrators, nearly thirty thousand people were arrested, many died, and many are still behind bars.
In the former Soviet Republic, the silencing of critical media began with great force.
Much of the Western world refuses to recognize Lukashenko, 66, as a legitimate president, and a number of sanctions have been imposed against the country.
