Today, the Homiel regional court in Belarus pronounced the verdict on TVP journalist Iryna Slaunikava who was arrested together with her husband at the airport in Minsk on October 30, 2021. She was associated with TVP for 15 years but previously she worked for Belsat TV station. Slaunikava and her husband were originally sentenced to 15 days in jail for “posting ‘extremist content’ on Facebook.” On August 3, Slaunikava has been sentenced to 5 years in a penal colony in Belarus.
The journalist was found guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code: Article 342 “Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order or active participation in them” and Article 361.1 “Establishment or participation in an extremist formation”. The trial of Iryna Slaunikava was held behind closed doors. (belsat.eu)
According to Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, a Polish press and television journalist, Director of Belsat TV, and Vice-president of the Association of Polish Journalists, the trial and its secrecy are typical judicial practices in Belarus today. It is possible not to know what someone has been accused of. The lack of knowledge about evidence and the course of a trial is frighteningly similar to the method used during the Stalinist years.
As we read on the official website of Biesłat TV, Iryna Sławnikowa dealt with, among other things Contacts with non-governmental and international organizations operating in Belarus. The journalist’s father spoke to customs and border guards and his findings show that the daughter and son-in-law were being held in the control zone. (newsbeezer.com)
#Belarus My former editor and excellent journalist employed by the Polish @tvp_info Iryna Slaunikava was sentenced to 5 years in jail.The prosecutor asked for 4 years. She was found “guilty” of creating an extremist formation and participating in protests. #JournalismIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/fwxpNgWEve
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) August 3, 2022
On Wednesday, the #Homiel regional court pronounced the verdict for #Polish public broadcaster #TVP #journalist Iryna Slaunikava’s case. She has been kept behind bars since October 30 last year.https://t.co/rLBXZ70jw7
— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) August 3, 2022
According to the press office of Bielsat TV, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, outlawed by the authorities, has information on 29 media workers currently imprisoned in Belarus.