Henadz Mazheyka

Affiliated media: Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus, Journalist

Incident date: December 1, 2022

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

The Minsk City Court started to consider the case of journalist of Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus Henadz Mazheyka. He is charged under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus: Part 1 of Article 130 (incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord) and Part 1 of Article 368 (insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus). Judge Tatsiana Falkouskaya is in charge of the case. «Incitement to hatred» is imputed for an article on the website of the media outlet, in which a classmate spoke favourably about IT specialist Andrey Zeltsar, who shot dead a KGB officer when law enforcers broke into his flat. Mazheyka was also accused of campaigning against the government and allegedly calling Lukashenka a «crazy freak» during a meeting of MP Valery Varanetsky with voters in August 2020. The journalist pleads not guilty and claims that these words were uttered by another person.