Videographer Andrei Tolchyn released from prison
Freelance journalist Andrei Tolchyn was among the 37 people pardoned by Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s September 16 decree. His release is reported on @parlamentbel Telegram channel.
In March this year, Homel videographer was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He was found guilty of promoting extremist activities and defaming the President of Belarus. The charges of discrediting Belarus were dropped at the request of the prosecutor. Andrei Tolchyn’s attempt to appeal this decision was unsuccessful.
On May 31, the journalist’s name appeared on the List of Persons Involved in Extremist Activities compiled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.
Andrei Tolchyn was arrested in Homel on September 27 last year and spent almost a year behind bars.
Andrei Tolchyn became a key figure in Homel’s democratic community in the 1990s, advocating for workers’ rights and serving as a deputy on the Homel City Council, which supported Belarus’s independence and opposed the Moscow coup.
He worked in Public and Media Relations, led the United Civil Party, and managed charitable foundations.
He founded the Gomelskie Vedomosti newspaper and faced intermittent unemployment.
After the 2010 elections, Tolchyn worked with independent media as a videographer, facing fines and detentions. In 2020, he was arrested with journalist Larysa Shchyrakova during demonstrations, accused of involvement in mass riots.