Arrested journalist’s son leaves shelter

December 23, BPN. The father of the arrested ex-journalist Łarysa Ščyrakova’s son was able to pick him up from a shelter on December 23, fife days after he had arrived in Homiel.

The father of Śviatasłaŭ arrived from Novosibirsk on Sunday, December 18, but was not allowed to meet with his child.

It is only when the Russian citizen was done with formalities, such as reporting his arrival to local authorities and getting a proper home, that he was able to take his son from the facility.

Ščyrakova reportedly took her detention calmly and had no complaints about her health. The state placed a gagging order on her lawyer.

It accused Ščyrakova, a former journalist based in Homiel, of discrediting Belarus, her family told BPN. She may face up to four years in prison, if convicted.

Police arrested her on December 6 and took her 15-year-old son Śviatasłaŭ to the Homiel district social service center. She had stopped working as journalist in 2021, and was into ethnographic photography in the last few months before her arrest.

Belarus has dozens of imprisoned reporters, says the Belarusian Association of Journalists.