Volha Rakovich

Affiliated media: Nasha Niva, Chief accountant

Incident date: July 8, 2021

Attack type:

• Confiscation/seizure of property, vehicles, equipment, documents

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

At the beginning of the working day, law enforcers searched the editorial office of the website Nasha Niva. They seized equipment, digital media, and documentation. After that, the law enforcers searched the flats of the media outlet’s managers. The searches were conducted under criminal articles for gross violation of order (Article 342) and for «mass riots» (Article 293). The law enforcers seized computer equipment from the flat of the chief accountant Volha Rakovich, after which she was taken for interrogation and then placed in a temporary detention centre under arrest as a suspect under Article 342 of the Criminal Code. On July 16, she was released with the undertaking not to disclose the secrecy of the investigation.