Alexander Sidorevsky

Affiliated media: Belsat, Freelance journalist

Incident date: February 5, 2021

Attack type:

• Short-term detention

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Mogilev

Additional information:

Police detained freelance journalists Alina Skrebunova and Alexander Sidorevsky as they headed to court to report on the trial of a former government official. They were held for three hours at the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs, and were eventually charged under Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code (“working for a foreign media outlet without accreditation”). They then went to Skrebunova’s apartment to inspect the premises. As a result of a police search, all the equipment had been confiscated including: a computer system, two laptops, two video cameras, phones and flash drives. Police officers did not leave any official documents, such as a warrant to conduct the search.