Aliaksandr Silich

Affiliated media: Belsat TV channel, Freelance journalist

Incident date: May 25, 2021

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Freelance journalist Aliaksandr Silich was detained on the street when he was conducting a video survey of citizens. The police inspected his belongings and, noticing the Pahonia emblem on the cover of his passport, drew up a report under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences (participation in an unauthorised mass event). The journalist was kept in an isolation center until the trial. On May 24, the court sent the administrative report for revision, but the journalist was not released after 72 hours of detention. The policemen took him away from the detention center on Akrestsina and took him to the Pervomaysky District Police Department, where the journalist spent the night. On May 25, the court found Silich guilty and arrested him for 10 days. The conditions of serving the administrative arrest were torturous: none of the «political» prisoners were given mattresses, there were four beds and 16 people in the cell, they did not take him to the shower or for walks.