Ranak TV channel staff members detained and fined
The arrested employees of the Ranak TV channel have been charged with administrative offenses. They were accused of broadcasting “extremist” content. The court sentenced the arrested men to seven days of administrative detention, while the women were fined, Mediazona Belarus reported, citing the Homel chapter of the Viasna Human Rights Center.
The human rights defenders noted that law enforcement officers arrested nine employees of Ranak-Media and Ranak-Reklama. Earlier, Homel Viasna reported eight detentions: Andrei Lipski, journalist, Pavel Rabko, cameraman, Vadzim Vezhnavets, editor-in-chief of the media company, Uladzimir Papou, cameraman, Maryna Bychkouskaya, marketing specialist, Alena Kisialiova, chief accountant, Krystsina Kazialkova, secretary, Hanna Zhurskaya, and Elizaveta Shavialenka.
Zhurskaya is pregnant. She has been released pending trial, human rights activists say. Shavialenka was also released before trial on the grounds of disability.
Human rights activists note that all the women were detained in different places after working hours. Homel Viasna, citing its sources, reported that the reason for the detention was the coverage by Ranak journalists of the accident at the Svetlahorsk pulp and paper mill.
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