Maksim Horchenok

Affiliated media: Belsat TV channel , Freelance journalist

Incident date: September 15, 2020

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

The Belsat TV channel camera crew – Katsiaryna Andreeva and Maksim Horchenok (Kalitouski) – were detained during the live broadcasting — they were covering the protest action (the protests continued in Belarus after the presidential election on August 9). The police took them to the police department, confiscated their professional equipment, and threatened to handcuff them. They were drawn up reports under two articles of the Code of Administrative Offences: for cooperation with a foreign media without accreditation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus) and for disobedience to the police demands (Article 23.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus). They were held in the detention centre for three days until the trial. On September 15, the court considered the cases and found journalists guilty of violating Article 22.9 and fined them 50 basic amounts.