Pinsk Journalist, Blogger Convicted For 'Organising Protests In Stolin, Minsk' In 2020

In addition, he was charged with "slander against Lukashenka" and "extortion".

The court sentenced 53-year-old journalist and video blogger Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk in Stolin on April 5. This was reported by the Human Rights Centre Viasna.

According to volunteers, the political prisoner was found guilty of organising protests in Stolin and Minsk in 2020, slander against Lukashenka and extortion.

At the trial, Aliaksandr partially pleaded guilty to the first two charges, but did not plead guilty to extortion, although he agreed with the victim's claims for property damage in the amount of Br1800.

The trial lasted from March 15 and was held behind closed doors.

Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk was detained on July 18, 2023. It became known by accident: he had been living alone for a long time in a remote village in Pinsk district, and when he did not contact his friends for several weeks, they became worried. The law enforcers published a video of the journalist's brutal detention only in March 2024.

According to the prosecution version, in August 2020, Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk, while staying in Stolin and Pinsk districts of Brest region, "organised group actions, grossly violating public order and combined with blatant disobedience to the lawful demands of representatives of the authorities in Stolin and Minsk."

"Organisation" of these actions consists in that he, "with the purpose of publicly conducting destructive activities, posted publications in social networks calling for group actions, grossly violating public order and combined with clear disobedience to the demands of representatives of the authorities".

The prosecution also said Ihnatsiuk posted messages on the internet in August 2020 accusing Lukashenka of committing serious crimes.

"He intentionally posted on the Internet information of insulting and defamatory nature against Aliaksandr Lukashenka, containing knowingly false, untrue, insulting information related to the accusation of committing grave and especially grave crimes," the prosecution version said.

As for the article for extortion, according to the indictment, Ihnatsiuk "repeatedly demanded money and other property from entrepreneurs of Stolin district" during 2021 and 2022 "for selfish purposes, wanting to enrich himself at the expense of other citizens, under threat of spreading slanderous information and disclosure of other information, which the victims wanted to keep secret".

As a result, the court sentenced him to a total of six years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony, as well as a fine of 200 basic units (eight thousand rubles). In addition, the blogger will be charged with compensation in the amount of Br1,800 in favour of the victim. The journalist's laptop was confiscated as the "instrument of committing the crime".

We should add that in the late 90s and early 2000s, Aliaksandr Ihnatsiuk was published an independent regional newspaper "Viacherni Stolin" and was its editor-in-chief. The newspaper's release was suspended several times by the Ministry of Information, and as a result the newspaper was closed down. Then Ihnatsiuk created the Pro Stolin website, which worked until recently. Ihnatiuk himself was engaged in journalism and blogging.