Valiaryna Kustava

Affiliated media: Belsat, TV host

Incident date: June 22, 2021

Attack type:

• Forced emigration as a result of legal / economic pressure

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

It became known that the host of the TV channel Belsat Valiaryna Kustava left Belarus for Poland. «I was forced to leave the country in clothes I left home in, without money and things... And without a child. I left through forests and swamps», — she told afterwards. Later, her two-year-old daughter was taken to her. According to the lawyer, there are at least two criminal cases against Kustava in Belarus — she is accused of non-payment of taxes (Article 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus) and financing violations of public order (Article 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). In early June, the law enforcers searched the journalist’s flat.