Zhanna Ivanova (Zhalevich)

Affiliated media: Vitebsky Kuryer, Journalist

Incident date: November 15, 2022

Attack type:

• Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Vitsebk

Additional information:

At about 7.30 AM on November 15, the journalist of the online media outlet Vitebsky Kuryer Zhanna Ivanova (Zhalevich) wrote on Facebook that unknown people were breaking into her flat, and since then, there was no contact with her for several hours. In the middle of the day, it became known that the journalist was detained by the police officers and taken to court, although the trial was initially scheduled for November 18. The court declared Zhanna Ivanova guilty of unauthorised picketing (Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus) and fined her BYN 3,200. The reason was four illustrations on the pages of Ivanova in Odnoklassniki and Instagram with drawings in the colour scheme of the Belarusian national symbols, published back in 2020. The police took away the mobile phone from the journalist as a bail until she pays the court-ordered fine.