Yauhen Yerchak

Affiliated media: TUT.BY, Freelance photographer

Incident date: June 13, 2022

Attack type:

• Non-fatal attack / beating / injury / torture

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Reporters Without Borders

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Journalists and media workers arrested in Belarus are forced to make confessions, filmed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which are then published on the Internet. Freelance photographer Yauhen Yerchak was forced to wear a military helmet and a sticker with a white-red-white flag symbolizing the protests and a Nazi sign hung around his neck. The photo was posted on June 13. Yerchak was called a «fascist» and accused of collaborating with an «extremist» organization, namely Belarus’ most popular news website TUT.BY (now Zerkalo.io). On June 29, after 15 days of arrest for «disobeying police», he was released but is still at risk of further prosecution as police are «examining» his photo and video archive.