Siarhei Hardzievich

Affiliated media: Pershy Rehiyon, Journalist

Incident date: August 2, 2021

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Ivanovo

Additional information:

The court sentenced the correspondent of the website Pershy Rehiyon Siarhei Hardzievich to 1.5 years in a general regime colony. The journalist was declared guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus: insulting the president (Part 1 of Article 368), libel (Article 188), and insulting a representative of the authorities (Article 369). In addition, the court satisfied the claims of police officers Vitaly Kivel and Yury Chernyshkou, recognised as victims, and ordered Hardzievich to pay BYN 2,000 each as compensation for moral damage, as well as to pay the state duty of BYN 174. According to the prosecution, the journalist wrote insulting messages in the Viber chat room «Real Drahichyn». Hardzievich was detained at the end of December 2020, he spent a few months under house arrest, then he was on undertaking not to leave until the trial.