Aliaksandr Burakou

Affiliated media: Deutsche Welle, Freelance journalist

Incident date: May 12, 2021

Attack type:

• Administrative arrest, remand, pre-trial detention, prison

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Mahiliou

Additional information:

The law enforcers detained Aliaksandr Burakou near the regional court building, where the closed criminal trial of political activists and bloggers started that day. he journalist was preparing a story about this event. He was taken to the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs and charged with repeated participation in an unauthorised event within a year (Part 3 of Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus). He was held in the temporary detention centre until the trial. On May 15, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Mahiliou found Burakou guilty and arrested him for 20 days. At the court hearing, Burakou said that he was subjected to torture and inhuman treatment: he was not allowed to sleep normally for several nights, was regularly checkedб and stripped naked in the corridor, as well as was not given the handover that Burakou’s relatives had brought to him. As a sign of protest, the journalist went on hunger strike.