Human rights defenders name former head of Łukašenka’s press pool a political prisoner

November 29, BPN. Belarusian human rights defenders declared Dźmitryj Siemčanka, a former head of Alaksandr Łukašenka’s press pool, a political prisoner, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Human rights defenders stressed that authorities persecute Siemčanka on political grounds, seeking to stop or change the nature of his public activities linked to the non-violent exercise of freedom of speech and dissemination of information.

They urged the authorities to stop using criminal persecution as an instrument to suppress human rights and freedoms.

In a joint statement, Viasna, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Pravavaja Inicyjatyva, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Belarusian PEN, and Lawtrend also demanded that Siemčanka and other regime critics should be immediately freed.

Siemčanka was one of the dozens of journalists who resigned from state-run media outlets in 2020 in protest against police violence after the August 2020 presidential election. He then pursued a career in public relations at Biełahra, an agricultural equipment distribution company. On September 29, police raided its Minsk office and arrested 20 employees.

In mid-September, a court in Minsk sentenced the journalist to 15 days in jail on charges of disorderly conduct and fined his wife Julija 960 rubels (about $390) for reposting content from the opposition Telegram channels. In early October, a court sentenced Siemčanka to 13 days in jail.

Later, he was taken into custody on charges of inciting hatred in Telegram channels and chats in 2020-2022.