Jailed media executive charged with abuse of power, case goes to court

February 21, BPN. The Prosecutor General’s Office says it has referred the case of Mediarynok CEO Kanstancin Załatych to court.

Mediarynok is the company that reportedly owns the popular Belorusy i Rynok business newspaper. Załatych is accused of inciting hatred, abusing power and insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka and public officials.

The office said that in 2020, the man made online posts containing “insults and calls for reprisals against internal affairs officers and an insult to the head of state.”

“On top of that, Załatych, as the director of Mediarynok, knew for certain that Belarus’ law ‘On Mass Media’ was amended in such a way that barred two Polish nationals from owning an aggregate of 28 percent of the company,” it said.

“In violation of the law, without holding a general meeting of shareholders, he single-handedly made changes to the company’s charter to exclude these foreign nationals from Founders and registered it with the Minsk City Executive Committee’s main directorate of justice,” it added.

“Then he submitted it and other documents to the Ministry of Information, which allowed the company to continue its operation and him to keep the office of the director. As a result, the rights and lawful interests of the company’s shareholders were violated, and considerable damage was caused to state and public interests,” the prosecutors said.

The man remains in custody.

The Committee for State Security (KGB) arrested Załatych, editor in chief Andrej Aleksandrovič and accountant Julija Kachno on May 18, 2022. Aleksandrovič and Kachno were released later that day, while Załatych was placed in a detention facility.

Human rights activists declared him a political prisoner.

On July 23, the Ministry of Information blocked access to the Belorusy i Rynok website citing links to “extremist content.” The website was accessible outside the country, updating only its news section.

On December 1, the Ministry of Information cancelled registration of the printed version, which had been published for 32 years.

On December 22, it unblocked the website, reporting that no wrongdoing was found eventually. Mediarynok said the newsroom itself had removed a bulk of content, mostly relating to Belarusian politics.

Belorusy i Rynok (Belarusians and Market) was founded in December 1990 as the Belorusskiy Rynok (Belarusian Market) weekly. It got its present name in September 2005, after Alaksandr Łukašenka had outlawed the use of the word “Belarusian” in commercial brand names. Over the past two years, the newspaper was produced monthly.