Lawyers Of Katsiaryna Andreyeva And Darya Chultsova Challenge Sentence

The main theses of the defense.

On Friday, February 26, lawyers of Belsat journalists Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova filed an appeal against the women’s sentence to the Minsk City Court.

The main theses of the defense were voiced by the lawyer of Katsiaryna Andreyeva, Siarhei Zikratski.

The events of November 15, 2020, in general, cannot be called actions that grossly violate public order. International legal norms guarantee citizens the right to peaceful assembly. And on November 15, citizens exercised their right, lawyers say.

The defense believes that the court did not reveal the facts of disobedience to the legal requirements of the authorities, and this is a necessary condition for bringing to responsibility under this article. The verdict indicates that there was disobedience. Also, there was no evidence in court that it was the actions of the participants in the protest that caused the disruption of public transport.

Zikratski did not specify what the lawyers would do if the appeal is dismissed, but he assured that the horizon for the protection of journalists goes far beyond the consideration of the case in the Minsk City Court.

Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova were detained on November 15 for a live stream, during which they showed a harsh dispersal of the action in memory of Raman Bandarenka, and the destruction of the people's memorial on the Square of Changes by the security forces. First, administrative offence protocols were drawn up against the young women under Article 23.34 and 23.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences: they were accused of allegedly taking part in an unsanctioned protest action and disobeying the police. On November 17, the Kastrychnitski District Court punished the journalists for their professional activities with 7 days of administrative arrest. The decision noted that there was no corpus delicti in their actions.

On November 20, they were charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (“Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order”). For the young women, they chose a restraint measure in the form of arrest, they were transferred to the Zhodzina prison. There, they were held in different cells.

The Frunzenski District Court of Minsk punished the journalists with two years of imprisonment.