Home of Homiel’ journalist Hatoŭčyc searched for the third time within a year

February 6, BPN. The home of Homiel’ journalist Anatol Hatoŭčyc has been searched for the third time within a year.

According to the independent newspaper Narodnaja Volia, where Hatoŭčyc has been working after his retirement, in the evening of February 5, criminal investigation officers from the Čyhunačny District Department of Internal Affairs came to him, claiming that on February 3 an unknown person had scattered metal spikes (48, according to the search warrant) near the traffic police department. They suspected the journalist of doing it.

The search lasted about an hour and nothing was seized. An ambulance was called for Hatoŭčyc’s wife.

The journalist linked the incident to the upcoming constitutional referendum as the authorities are “purging the information field, seeking to create more terror in society, and even more so in the journalistic community.”

The previous searches took place on February 16 and July 9 last year. On December 14, Hatoŭčyc was fined 20 basic units (580 BYN) for the inscription “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” on his face mask.