Andrey Maslousky

Affiliated media: Journalist

Incident date: September 8, 2021

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

The law enforcers searched the flat of sports journalist Andrey Maslousky, then detained him. On the evening of that day, a «penitential» video featuring Maslousky appeared on the pro-government Telegram channel Yellow Plums. In the recording, the journalist says that he worked in a media outlet that «went from covering sports to covering the political situation» and that he participated in «unauthorised marches» in August 2020, which he regrets and repents. On September 8, the court found Maslousky guilty on the basis of a police report and arrested him for 15 days under the article on distribution of extremist materials (Part 2 of Article 19.11 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The court also ruled to confiscate the smartphone, from which Maslousky allegedly committed the offence. The journalist was kept in an isolation centre until the trial. Maslovsky had been working as a Tribuna journalist since 2010, and in July 2021 he resigned by mutual agreement.