Kanstantsin Zhukouski: Fighting With Us Is Like Painting Sky

The authorities are afraid of independent journalist from Homel.

Kanstantsin Zhukouski, a journalist from Homel, told Radio Svaboda that he received a fifth summons from the police for a week.

The latest summons for today is sent as to a person against whom an administrative proceeding is conducted in an unnamed administrative case. Law enforcers from Homel, Kalinkavichy, Korma, Loeu also want to see Kanstantsin Zhukouski for drafting reports against him; military registration and enlistment office has urgently summoned him for reservist trainings.

Previous processes against Zhukouski were related to art. 22.9 of the Administrative Code – "violation of the law on the media". Zhukouski, who collaborated with Belsat TV as a freelancer, became one of the record-breakers of Belarus in "journalistic" fines. This year Dzmitry Lupach, a journalist from Hlubokae, "competed" with him for the first place. The amount of fines for Zhukouski has already exceeded 2,000 rubles, including the fine for a video of "drinking lemonade" with a friend.

As Zhukouski said, the current five agendas within the week are hardly a coincidence. Recently, he announced that he was no longer going to cooperate with Belsat, so he thinks that the authorities use fines to "finish him off".

"But it's impossible: fighting with us is like painting the sky, – Zhukouski says. – I have only good memories about Belsat: when I worked with my colleagues, I saw that our work is useful. There were nuances, peculiarities of a country with a dictatorship, that people who commented on somethng, were fired... It was sad.

Yes, I will continue my journalistic work, there are agreements with people who will support me. This does not stop me, and I left Belsat is not because they broke me. Just decided to that it was enough to fund the regime. Nothing will change now, I will continue to work, I will travel more, I will keep saying how the things really are."

Zhukouski notes that it is necessary to attend hearings of "journalistic" cases, let the chances of avoiding a fine are very small. He believes: although the system is "shameful," but "judges are also people" and it's possible to express one's opinion to them, it's necessary "to be engaged in education", so they can give a smaller fine.