Vyachaslau Lazarau

Affiliated media: Belsat, Freelance cameraman

Incident date: September 25, 2023

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Vitsebsk

Additional information:

Cameraman Vyachaslau Lazarau was sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment in a high-security colony. His wife, Belsat journalist Tatsiana Pytsko, was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. Judge of the Vitsebsk Regional Court Yauhen Burunou found them guilty of «assisting extremist activity» (Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). Both were accused of cooperation with the TV channel Belsat, declared by the Belarusian authorities an «extremist formation». Lazarau was detained on February 9, 2023.