Rights defender, journalist wanted by Belarus for appearing on Belsat
September 13, Pozirk. Human rights activist Siarhiej Sys has been placed on the interstate wanted list on criminal charges filed in Belarus against participants in Plan B TV show on Warsaw-based Belsat, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.
Ihar Kaźmierčak, orsha.eu editor, is also wanted. Both left Belarus in 2021 fearing politically-motivated persecution.
More than a dozen people face charges of facilitating extremism over the March 25 and April 1 broadcasts on Belsat, a Warsaw-based station labeled by Belarus’ authorities an extremist group.
Investigators have visited their family members, interviewed neighbors and conducted several searches.
Founded in 2007 in a deal between the Polish foreign ministry and the Polish broadcaster TVP, Belsat broadcasts for Belarusian audiences.
Authorities in Minsk blacklisted it in November 2021 along with other independent media outlets.
At least 17 media workers are serving prison sentences in Belarus for cooperating with Belsat.
Historian given four years in prison over Euroradio interview
September 13, Pozirk. Judge Michaił Makarevič has sentenced prominent historian Ihar Mielnikaŭ to four years in prison over an interview he had given to Euroradio in Poland a few months before Belarus designated the media outlet an extremist group. The …