Journalist Larysa Schyrakova Fined $ 240

This year a freelancer from Homel has become the first Belarusian journalists, punished by the court for the professional activity.

Homel district court punished an independent journalist Larysa Schyrakova by a fine of 22 basic units (4 million 620 thousand rubles, or $ 240). She was found guilty of violating Art. 22.9 of the Administrative Code (illegal production and distribution of media products), and in fact – work for foreign media without accreditation. The trial has been held today, on January 13, Aliaksandr Lisouski was the judge who tried the case, Belsat reports.

The protocol of a police captain Tsitou of Homel police department says that “on December 24, 2015 Schyrakova being in the agro-town Urytskaye of Homel district without accreditation as a foreign correspondent media illegally interviewed various people and made a media product, namely a documentary “Support To Orphans On Their Way To Adulthood,” which was broadcast on the TV channel Belsat on 24.12.2015.

The journalist was accused of filming a story devoted to a former pupil of an orphan boarding school of Urytskaye village. The journalist received protocol by mail on January 4.