Belarus: Five Jailed Women Journalists Face Trials On Trumped Up Charges As Government Crackdown Continues

Location: Belarus, Minsk              
Date: June 9, 2022

*Updated on July 12, 2022

At least three Belarusian women journalists stood trials this week as the government continues its onslaught on the independent press after mass protests in August 2020 against the controversial reelection of authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko as president. Another two women journalists have their hearings scheduled in the coming days. Journalists Aksana Kolb, Iryna Leushyna, Iryna Zlobina, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Darya Chultsova and Iryna Slaunikava have all been subjected to arbitrary detentions, and continue to face trumped up criminal charges for their reportage. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends support to these journalists and calls for an immediate end to state-backed violations against them. Their commitment to their work in a country that has consistently ranked among the worst jailers of journalists in the world in recent years is commendable. 

Aksana Kolb, editor of independent Belarusian digital weekly Novy Chas, was produced before a district court in Minsk on June 7 to defend herself against “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” charges. The hearing was adjourned with the verdict yet pending. 

The prosecutors recommended a 30-month open-prison sentence, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). An open-prison, also known as “khimya” across the former Soviet Union, is a system whereby convicts were historically sent to work at dangerous facilities while residing in nearby “dormitories” instead of being incarcerated. 

The khimiya sentence is reportedly perceived as less harsh these days as the convicts are housed in a dormitory not as far from their permanent address. They continue work at their existing place of work or at a state entity, depending on the verdict. 

Belarusian authorities took Aksana into custody on April 20, 2022, for interrogation. Later that day the journalist was allowed a call to inform her relatives that she is being held in a temporary detention center, where she is to be kept for up to 10 days. No charges against her were disclosed at the time, as documented by the CFWIJ. 

She remained behind bars after the hearing with Belarusian human rights group recognizing her as a political prisoner. Representatives of German, Swedish and Czech embassies in the Belarusian capital were not allowed to attend the trial on June 7, reported Novy Chas. 

On June 15, 2022, the Centraĺny District Court of Minsk convicted Aksana of participation in actions that grossly violate public order under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code, according to news reports. The journalist was sentenced to 30 months (two and a half years) in an open prison for participation in one of the August 2020 protests. After spending two months in pre-trial detention, Aksana was released after the announcement of the verdict to serve her sentence. 

A day before Aksana’s hearing, on June 6, Iryna Leushyna and Iryna Zlobina, BelaPAN news agency chief editor and reporter, respectively, faced a closed door trial in Minsk along with their former colleagues Dzmitry Navazhylau and Andrey Alyaksandrau. 

The defendants face multiple charges with Iryna Leushyna facing allegations of “creating an extremist group,” and Iryna Zlobina accused of “high treason” and “organization of illegal rallies”. The latter and her partner Alyaksandrau each face up to 15 years in prison on high treason charges alone. 

Iryna Leushyna was detained along with her colleagues on August 18, 2021, as documented by the CFWIJ. Police raided BelaPAN’s offices in Minsk and searched the homes of its staffers on the same day. The detainees were subsequently sent to prison and have been behind bars since. 

Iryna Zlobina and her partner were placed in pre-trial detention six months earlier. The independent Belarusian news agency was arbitrarily banned in November 2021 after the authorities termed it an “extremist organization”. 

All four journalists have denied the charges against them. 

Katsiaryna Andreyeva, a correspondent for Poland-based independent Belarusian broadcaster Belsat TV, has already been jailed for around one and half years for covering protests in November 2020. 

Her trial on additional charges of “high treason” was to begin on July 4 but was suspended on July 6, according to a Facebook post by her husband Ihar Ilyash. She is now due before court on July 13. 

Katsiaryna was detained in November 2020 along with her camera operator Darya Chultsova while live-streaming incidents of police brutality during a rally held in memory of murdered dissident Raman Bandarenka. 

In February 2021, they were sentenced to two years in prison each on charges of “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order”. The police accused them of “coordinating protesters and calling for further actions”, and claimed that their actions resulted in property damage, reported the CFWIJ at the time. 

Their former colleague Iryna Slaunikava is also due to stand trial in coming days on terror-related charges carrying a sentence of up to seven in years in prison. She was detained at Minsk airport in October 2021 along with her husband. The latter was released after over a month in prison but the journalist remains incarcerated. 

Her hearing on “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order” and “creating an extremist group” is slated for July 14 in Homel. If convicted on the two charges, she could face up to 11 years in prison. 

Her case was transferred to the Homiel Regional Court last month for unspecified reasons on May 12, 2022. The trial is expected to begin this month and is likely to be a closed door one. According to her family, though she had formerly been associated with Belsat TV, which has been banned by the Belarusian interior ministry as an “extremist organization”, at the time of her arrest she was a full-time employee of the Polish TV channel TVP. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Aksana Kolb, Iryna Leushyna, Iryna Zlobina, Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Darya Chultsova, Iryna Slaunikava and other brave journalists reporting from Belarus. We call on the Belarusian government and judiciary to drop all legal proceedings against them and ensure their immediate release. The CFWIJ strongly condemns the harsh treatment they have been subjected to. Incarcerating journalists for simply doing their jobs and reporting on matters of public interest is beyond reprehensible. 

Since the disputed 2020 presidential election in Belarus, the country has seen severe encroachments on press freedom. Several women journalists have left the country as the authorities have intensified restrictions on the independent press and free speech. Those who remain continue to face relentless state-linked persecution. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

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