Yauheny Merkis

Affiliated media: Belsat TV channel , Freelance journalist

Incident date: September 17, 2020

Attack type:

• Court trial

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Gomel

Additional information:

Yauheny Merkis and Maryna Drabysheuskaya were detained by the police and traffic police in the morning. They were taken to the police department and drawn up reports for violation of the law on mass events (Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus) – the day before the journalist covered a protest action in Gomel. He was placed in the temporary detention centre for three days until the trial. On September 17, the court found Merkis guilty and arrested him for 15 days.