Independent journalists from Hłybokaje again were punished with fines for "illegal production of media products". Dmitry Lupach was fined 857 rubles 50 kopecks for cooperation with Belsat, Tatyana Smotkina for 1102 rubles 50 kopecks – from Radio Racyja.
The account of Dmitry Lupach this year: 7 ships and 4 penalties
On June 11, for the plot "Why militiamen beat pensioners", shown on the Belsat TV channel, the judge of the Hłybokaje district court Lyudmila Vaschenko punished the journalist with a fine of 35 basic units. For him it was the seventh court since the beginning of 2018.
Dmitry Lupach was tried in the courts of Pastavy, Šarkoŭščyna, Dokšycy and Hłybokaje districts. He fell under the police and prosecution more often than other journalists, and sometimes the police simply did not have time to get administrative affairs on him and to transfer them to the courts. For this reason – due to the end of the term of bringing to administrative responsibility – the recent decision of Šarkoŭščyna district court was abolished by the Viciebsk regional court. And the courts of Pastavy and Dokšycy districts were forced to cancel cases against an independent journalist altogether.
Nevertheless, the amount of four fines imposed on Dmitry Lupach from the beginning of this year is already 3307 rubles 50 kopecks. This is an absolute "record" based on the results of the prosecution of journalists in Viciebsk region.
By the way, in order to prevent the violation of the terms of the proceedings, the Deaf militia tried, using Dmitry as an example, "know-how": the employees are already preparing a new administrative case against him – for filming allegedly for Belsat in the company with Tatyana Smotkinay. Even have already found witnesses, only here the relevant material on the TV channel was not tracked.
Tatiana Smotkina's account: 2 vessels, 2 penalties and 5 protocols
Journalist Tatyana Smotkina by Judge Lyudmila Vaschenko now fined 45 basic units for four protocols, drafted by police captain Sergei Tsirban. Two of them concerned the same article "How the city sewer system in Hłybokaje created problems," says Mrs. Tatiana.
"The first protocol was made by a policeman directly against me – for an interview for an article on the Radio Racyja website. And the second – for the fact that I took an interview not alone, but with Dmitry Lupach. Thus, the court considered 4 protocols, drawn up concerning the appearance of three articles. Penalty imposed a total of 45 basic units, "says Tatyana Smotkina.
For her, today's court on part 2 of Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Belarus is the second one this year.
For half a year – more than a dozen of courts over independent journalists of Viciebsk region
Viciebsk police monitors the stories of freelance journalists connected with the most high-profile events in the region. In addition to Hłybokaje colleagues, this year in February, Vitaliy Skryl and Vladimir Lunev were punished for 539 rubles for the video "For what the likes of Lukashenko do not like in Orsha", shown on the Belsat TV channel. In May, Vyacheslav Lazarev received the same fine, and 490 rubles – Elena Shabunya, both for the Belsat video clip "The Kolkhoz drank". The village is near the lake, but there is no water."
BS, svaboda.org
Photo: baj.by
