Siarhei Hardzievich

Affiliated media: Pershy Rehiyon, Former journalist

Incident date: September 15, 2023

Attack type:

• Administrative arrest, remand, pre-trial detention, prison

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Drahichyn

Additional information:

Siarhei Hardzievich, a journalist of the regional media outlet Pershy Rehiyon, detained at the Brest border crossing, was taken from Brest temporary detention centre to Drahichyn. Based on the police report, the Drahichyn District Court found him guilty of an offence under Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus (distribution, production, storage, transportation of information products containing calls to extremist activities or propaganda of such activities) and sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest. The reason was reposts of publications in social networks, which the journalist had made back in 2020 — before the authorities declared those publications «extremist materials».