Belarusian journalists face two years in prison for filming police violence at pro-democracy protest

Journalists Yekaterina Andreeva and Darya Chultsova attend a court hearing in Minsk

Credit: REUTERS

Two young Belarusian journalists are facing up to two years in prison for covering police violence during a pro-democracy protest, in a further sign of the ongoing breakdown of rule of law in the eastern European nation run by President Alexander Lukashenko.

Yekaterina Andreeva and Darya Chultsova, a reporter and a camerawoman respectively for a Belarusian-language television station Belsat, were detained last November and charged with “organising and preparing actions that grossly violate public order” for broadcasting scenes from an earlier demonstration in the capital Minsk.

The demonstration saw thousands of people gather in a Minsk residential neighbourhood to hold a vigil for anti-government protester Roman Bondarenko, who died there after he was beaten by plainclothes police officers.

Police used tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets against the peaceful demonstrators at what was one of the last major protests in the opposition campaign against Mr Lukashenko, the country’s leader of 26 years whose dubious landslide election in August set off months of unrest.

Opposition supporters attend a rally to protest the disputed August 9 presidential elections results in Minsk

Credit: AFP

Ms Andreeva, 27, and Ms Chultsova, 23, were filming the vigil for Poland-based broadcaster Belsat from the safety of a flat overlooking the yard. They were among the few reporters to capture the night’s events live and were arrested the same evening.

Belarusian prosecutors on Wednesday asked the court to sentence Ms Andreeva and Ms Chultsova to two years in prison each, claiming their live stream incited violent protests.

Physical evidence presented in court included USB drives, voice recorders, note books, a video camera and a press vest.

In their final arguments, the journalists said they were innocent.

“I was broadcasting [protests] live — this is the reason why they locked me up,” Ms Andreeva said in remarks released by Belsat.

“I never committed any crime and never urged anyone to do it. I have everything: I have my youth, a career that I love and, more importantly, a clear conscience.

"I want to devote my energy to build a new Belarus where political repressions have no place.”

A verdict is expected Thursday.

Yekaterina Andreeva (R) and Darya Chultsova (L), a camerawoman and a reporter for a Poland-based television station, before the start of their trial in Minsk

Credit: AFP/AFP

The case has sent shockwaves through the beleaguered Belarusian media community which has worked under immense pressure since protests first erupted after the disputed Aug 9 presidential election.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the Belsat journalists’ release, saying in a statement last week that the Belarusian government has been “punishing journalists for reporting on important political events.”

The Belarusian Association of Journalists, which had its offices raided by police on Tuesday, has documented 97 media workers sentenced to jail time since the protests began, serving in total over 1,200 days behind bars last year.

Another journalist, Kaciaryna Barysevich, a reporter with Tut.by who wrote an article debunking Mr Lukashenko’s claim that killed protester Mr Bondarenko was drunk, has also been in custody since November. She has been charged with violating privacy laws for publishing his medical files.

Hundreds of thousands rallied across Belarus all autumn to call for Mr Lukashenko’s resignation in the country’s biggest protests in its post-Soviet history.

The Belarusian authorities responded with violence, rounding up thousands and torturing hundreds in custody. The Lukashenko regime denies reports of disproportionate force, dismissing people making such claims as provocateurs paid by the West.

The protests continued gradually died down in November as fears of repression and overwhelming frustration set in.

Russia, Belarus’ top ally, has urged Mr Lukashenko to reach out to his opponents but he has not yet made good on his promises to the Kremlin.