Media manager Kanstantsin Zalatykh sentenced to 4 years in prison
The trial against Kanstantsin Zalatykh, director of the economic newspaper Belorusy i Rynok, was held behind closed doors, Euroradio reports.
The defendant was charged with several political articles, most of which were of a defamatory nature, namely the public dissemination of information bringing into disrepute the honor and dignity of a public official. It is alleged that the director of Belorusy i Rynok actively expressed «his tendentious position» on developments in Belarus in recent years, including insulting comments about top state officials.
On these grounds, the defendant was sentenced to four years of imprisonment.
On 18 May 2022, the State Security Committee detained the director of the country’s oldest economic newspaper Belorusy i Rynok, Kanstantsin Zalatykh, chief editor Andrei Aleksandrovich, and accountant Yulia Kakhno.
After questioning, Aleksandrovich and Kakhno were released, and Zalatykh was put in custody on unknown charges. Judging from the content of the detention report, the reason was allegedly «inciting social enmity.»
Kanstantsin Zalatykh is an experienced media manager and production administrator who has worked with leading independent media and large state enterprises.
On 23 July 2022, access to the Belorusy i Rynok website he worked at was blocked in Belarus «due to referencing extremist content.» In early December 2022, after 32 years of operation, the editorial board announced that due to difficult financial and political conditions, it was suspending the publication of both the printed and electronic pdf versions. Concurrently, the Ministry of Information unexpectedly issued an order to restore access to the website belmarket.by.
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