Belsat TV channel

No.

Date

Form of repres­sion

Descrip­tion

1.

9 August 2020

Web­site block­ing

Bel­sat TV chan­nel web­site belsat.eu was blocked in Belarus.

2.

15 Novem­ber 2020

Deten­tion of jour­nal­ists

While live stream­ing the vio­lent dis­per­sal of pro­test­ers at the Square of Changes in Min­sk, jour­nal­ists of the Bel­sat TV chan­nel Kat­siary­na Andreye­va (Bakhvala­va) and Daria Chultso­va were arrest­ed.

The reporters were crim­i­nal­ly charged with the orga­ni­za­tion of actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order (Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code).

On 18 Feb­ru­ary 2021, the women were sen­tenced to two years in a gen­er­al-regime cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ty.

On 7 April 2022, it became known that Kat­siary­na Andreye­va (Bakhvala­va) was addi­tion­al­ly charged with «trea­son» (part 1 of Arti­cle 356 of the Crim­i­nal Code).

On 13 July 2022, she was sen­tenced to 8 years and 3 months of impris­on­ment.

3.

21 May 2021

Search in the TV stu­dio

A search took place in the Min­sk stu­dio where the Bel­sat TV chan­nel shows were filmed. On that day, the tech­ni­cal staff was detained: a sound engi­neer and four cam­era­men, as well as the admin­is­tra­tor of the stu­dio used for shoot­ing the Each of Us show.

The show was not filmed at that moment. The stu­dio was pre­pared to record the next episode of the talk show.

The arrest­ed staff were admin­is­tra­tive­ly detained and fined:

• Ali­ak­san­dr Kulpo — 15 days;
• Yauhen Merkis — a fine of $250;
• Mikhail Kashkan — 15 days;
• Mak­sim Yarashen­ka — 15 days;
• Ryhor Pia­tro­vich — 15 days;
• Pavel Pat­a­pau — 15 days.

4

21 July 2021

Declar­ing con­tent extrem­ist

The Chy­hu­nach­ny Dis­trict Court of Homel rec­og­nized the con­tents of «the BELSAT TV Inter­net resource with the iden­ti­fi­er belsat.eu», social media, mes­sen­ger ser­vices, and the logo of the TV chan­nel as extrem­ist.

Now read­ers may be held admin­is­tra­tive­ly liable under Part 2 Arti­cle 19.11 of the Admin­is­tra­tive Offens­es Code (a fine of $100–300) for dis­sem­i­nat­ing infor­ma­tion link­ing to Bel­sat TV resources.

5

31 Octo­ber 2021

Deten­tion of jour­nal­ists

Iry­na Slau­nika­va, a for­mer Bel­sat TV chan­nel employ­ee, was detained. 

She became a sus­pect under part 1 of Arti­cle 342 of the Crim­i­nal Code («Orga­ni­za­tion and prepa­ra­tion of actions that gross­ly vio­late pub­lic order or active par­tic­i­pa­tion in such action») and was also accused of run­ning an extrem­ist for­ma­tion under part 1 of Arti­cle 361–1 of the Crim­i­nal Code.

On 3 August 2022, Iry­na was sen­tenced to 5 years of impris­on­ment.

6.

3 Novem­ber 2021

Recog­ni­tion as an extrem­ist for­ma­tion

The deci­sion of the Min­istry of Inter­nal Affairs of Belarus dat­ed 03.11.2021 No. 10EK «On the recog­ni­tion of a group of cit­i­zens as an extrem­ist for­ma­tion and the pro­hi­bi­tion of its activ­i­ties» deter­mined that «a group of cit­i­zens unit­ed through the BELSAT TV Inter­net resources car­ries out extrem­ist activ­i­ties».

The BELSAT TV extrem­ist for­ma­tion was includ­ed in the Reg­is­ter of Orga­ni­za­tions, For­ma­tions, and Indi­vid­ual Entre­pre­neurs Involved in Extrem­ist Activ­i­ty under No. 12.

Estab­lish­ment or par­tic­i­pa­tion in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion is a crim­i­nal offense pun­ish­able by impris­on­ment from 2 to 10 years (Arti­cle 361¹ of the Crim­i­nal Code of the Repub­lic of Belarus).

7.

4 March 2022

Declar­ing con­tent extrem­ist

The Tsen­tral­ny Dis­trict Court of Min­sk declared extrem­ist the logos (water­marks) of the BELSAT TV chan­nel, includ­ing the «images of Kat­siary­na Bakhvala­va and Daria Chultso­va on orange back­ground with an owl in white and orange col­or.

Dis­sem­i­na­tion of «extrem­ist infor­ma­tion» is pun­ish­able under Part 2 of Arti­cle 19.11 of the Admin­is­tra­tive Offens­es Code (a fine of $100–300).