'I have resigned to my fate'. Two Belarusians reporters face three years in prison

Two Belarusian reporters are facing up to three years in prison for their journalism work. The trial is due to begin later on Tuesday.

Katsyaryna Andreyeva (Bachvalava) and Darya Chultsova are both reporters for Belsat, a Belarusian network in exile part of the Polish state-owned media, TVP.

While awaiting trial, they have already spent 85 days in detention, according to a press release by TVP.

Andreyeva and Chultsova were arrested in Minsk on November 15, 2020 while reporting on a grassroots protest following the tragic death of Raman Bandarenka.

Several days earlier, the opposition supporter had tried to intervene when unknown perpetrators were destroying patriotic symbols in his courtyard. He was beaten, his skull fractured, and he died in hospital.

Protests in Belarus | AP nuotr.

The Belsat journalists were arrested while broadcasting live from a demonstration held on the spot where Bandarenka was seized and beaten. They were reporting from the 13th floor of a nearby block of flats, but were traced by the militia and arrested.

At first, Andreyeva and Chultsova were sentenced to the standard seven days detention for “participation in an illegal gathering” that they clearly could not have taken part in since they were covering it from a distance.

However, they were not released a week later, and criminal charges were pressed instead. They were accused of organising activities that flagrantly breached the public order. Under Article 342 of the Belarusian criminal code, this carries up to three years’ imprisonment.

The journalists were charged with live-streaming and thus coordinating the illegal protest, which had allegedly delayed the running of public transport – 13 bus, 3 trolleybus, and 3 tram routes. The state enterprise MinskTrans assessed its losses at over 4,800 US dollars.

Up until their trial, the journalists were incarcerated in Zhodino, near Minsk.

Protests in Belarus | AP nuotr.

In letters to her husband, Ihar Ilyash, another Belsat journalist, Katsyaryna Andreyeva wrote that she has “resigned to her fate” and, if necessary, would “put up with anything”. Darya Chultsova is missing her job.

They have both been cheered up by the dozens of letters they have received from their families, friends, and strangers. Belarusian human rights defenders have declared both women political prisoners.

Unfortunately, there is little hope of them being acquitted. In the past, the courts have only ever taken into account incriminating statements about the accused from the militia – the Belarusian police forces – even when they bore no resemblance to reality.

Altogether, Belsat journalists were arrested 162 times in 2020. The arrests were regularly accompanied by confiscation of equipment.

Seven of those arrested reported physical violence at the hands of the militia, and seven required hospitalisation.

During the brutal crackdown on the post-election demonstrations, one female photojournalist was injured by a rubber bullet and another by an exploding stun grenade.