Russian journalist arrested while covering trial of Nobel laureate in Belarus

Russian journalist Yekaterina Yanshina was arrested for 15 days after covering the trial in the case of human rights activists of the Viasna Center in Belarus. This was reported by the publication “Lawyer Street”, with which the girl collaborates.

Yanshina covered the trial at the Leninsky District Court of Minsk on 5 January. After the end of the trial, the journalist was detained by bailiffs and, presumably, by KGB officers. The security forces accused Ekaterina of violating the order of the meeting, since she was filming and filming. Yanshin was taken to the office for a “conversation”, after which contact with her disappeared.

According to the Memorial Human Rights Center, Yanshina spent the night in a temporary detention center (IVS), a lawyer was not allowed to see her.

The journalist was accused of petty hooliganism (Article 19.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Belarus). It follows from the protocol that Yanshina “behaved defiantly” in court. At the police department, according to the police, Yanshina cursed, yelled at the officers and refused to obey their demands.

The trial of Yanshina took place via video link – all this time the girl was in the temporary detention facility. At the meeting, the journalist said that the protocol was not true. However, Judge Tatyana Motylina ordered her to be arrested.

The Viasna case is a trial of Belarusian human rights activists Ales Byalyatsky, Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich. The authorities of the republic accuse them of economic crimes. In 2022, the chairman of the human rights center “Viasna” Ales Byalyatsky became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – together with the Russian “Memorial” and the Ukrainian Center for Community Freedoms.