Siarhei Satsuk

Affiliated media: Ejednevnik (ej.by), Editor-in-chief

Incident date: October 26, 2022

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Investigative journalist Siarhei Satsuk was sentenced to 8 years in a strict regime penal colony. Minsk city court found the editor-in-chief of the independent news website Ejednevnik guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus: taking bribes (Part 2 of Article 430), inciting social hatred (Part 2 of Article 130) and exceeding one’s official authority (Part 2 of Article 426). The court also imposed a fine of 500 basic units (BYN 16,000) on the journalist and prohibited him from holding senior positions for five years. In addition, the court fined him BYN 12,384 for the state and seized the journalist’s property. The ground for persecution, according to Satsuk’s colleagues, was his high-profile investigations, first of all, concerning large-scale corruption in the medical sphere. Previously, the journalist had repeatedly received life threats and warnings for his activities, including from high-ranking government officials.