Journalist’s trial resumes at Minsk City Court

February 27, BPN. The Minsk City Court has resumed hearings in a case against Hienadź Mažejka, a former journalist with Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi, charged over his coverage of a shooting incident in Minsk, the court’s schedule says.

Authorities accuse him of inciting hatred and insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka. Mažejka has been on trial since December 1, 2022. After December 19, judge Taćciana Falkoŭskaja adjourned the trial for additional examinations, sources told BPN.

Mažejka has been in custody since October 2021 over an article he wrote on the 2021 shootout that left two people dead, IT engineer Andrej Zielcer and a KGB officer.

The state-run media said the article cast Zielcer in a positive light. Although Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi took down the story, it did not stop the information ministry from blocking access to the newspaper’s website. A ban on distribution eventually forced Russian-owned Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi to shut down.

At least 32 Belarusian media workers remain behind bars, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).