Ihar Karnei to be tried today for being member of ‘extremist formation’
The trial started at 10 am today in the Minsk City Court, presided over by Judge Siarhei Katsar. Diplomats of the EU, Austria, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, Germany, Poland, and the UK were at the court building today in solidarity with the journalist. In its statement, the EU Mission in Belarus said that “the EU urges the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and their effective rehabilitation.”
Ihar Karnei, the journalist, is accused of participation in an extremist formation with the intention of committing an extremist offense.
The penalty for this offense is freedom restriction for two to six years or imprisonment for up to four years.
Ihar Karnei has been in prison for eight months.
According to his family, he was detained on 17 July 2023 after a search of his home. The police seized a computer and other digital media during the search. Karnei was taken to a temporary detention center.
The journalist was not released after 10 days of preliminary detention and charged with a crime.
Ihar Karnei has been working in journalism since his student years. In the late 1980s, with friends and like-minded individuals, he co-founded an independent youth newspaper Lider in Orsha. He also contributed to Znamya Yunosti, Krasnaya Smena, and Komsomolskaya Pravda newspapers. From 1991, he worked at Zvyazda newspaper. Between 1994 and 2000, he served as a correspondent for the weekly Svobodnye Novosti. In 2000, he joined the RFE/RL Belarus office. Recently, he has been working as a freelance journalist.
Ihar Karnei was also arrested during a peaceful march in Minsk on 15 November 2020 and sentenced to 10 days of administrative detention.