Dzmitry Navazhylau

Affiliated media: BelaPAN, Former CEO

Incident date: October 6, 2022

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Minsk Regional Court announced the verdict in the criminal case of the independent news agency BelaPAN. Judge Viachaslau Tuleika sentenced the former director general of BelaPAN Dzmitry Navazhylau to six years in jail. He was charged under two articles: the creation and management of an extremist formation (Part 1 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus) and tax evasion (Part 2 of Article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). According to the prosecution, «in 2020-2021, a group of citizens carried out the extremist activity in the form of creation and placement of materials with signs of extremism on the Internet resources of BelaPAN. The trial was held behind closed doors. Dzmitry Navazhylau was detained on August 18, 2021, and initially accused of participation in mass protests, he was held in a pre-trial detention center. In November 2021, the KGB recognized BelaPAN as an «extremist formation».