Siarhei Adziaryha

Affiliated media: News agency BelTA, Deputy Director General

Incident date: April 19, 2022

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Siarhei Adziaryha, Deputy Director General of the state news agency BelTA, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined 500 basic amounts (USD 5,695). Adziaryha was convicted for passing official information, which was in his possession, to a representative of the National Anti-Crisis Management and the Telegram channel Nick and Mike. The judge of the Sovetsky District Court of Minsk considered Adziaryha’s actions as abuse of power (Part 2 of Article 426 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). According to the investigation, he «entered into a criminal agreement with another person outside the Republic of Belarus, who is one of the heads of the so-called National Anti-Crisis Management that carries out illegal activities to overthrow the state power in the Republic of Belarus and seize power in an unconstitutional way». The exact date of Adziaryha’s detention is unknown — presumably it happened in September 2021, he was held in custody until the trial.