Verdict In BelaPAN Case Announced In Minsk

Political prisoners received from 5 to 14 years in prison.

On October 6, the verdict in the criminal case of the independent news agency BelaPAN was announced in Minsk, according to zerkalo.io. The defendants received from 5 to 14 years in prison.

Media manager Andrei Aliaksandrau was sentenced to 14 years in prison, his wife Iryna Zhlobina - 9 years, director at the BelaPAN agency Dzmitry Navazhylau - 6 years, editor-in-chief and director at BelaPAN Iryna Levshyna - 4 years.

The Minsk Regional Court considered the cases on June 6. The trial took place behind closed doors.

Recall that Andrei Aliaksandrau and Iryna Zlobina were detained on January 12, 2021, Iryna Levshina and Dzmitry Novozhilov - on August 18 of the same year. They were behind bars all this time.

The defendants were charged with the following:

- Andrei Aliaksandrau and Iryna Zlobina were charged under Part 2 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code in the preparation of "at least 260 persons to participate in group actions that grossly violate public order" from August 14, 2020 to January 12, 2021. This is how the investigators interpreted their payment of administrative fines, bills for lawyers, and food during the detention of people, and not only;

- they were also charged with Part 1 of Art. 356 of the Criminal Code (“High treason”) in assisting the ByHelp Foundation and its representatives in activities “aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus”;

- Andrei Aliaksandrau, Dzmitry Navazhylau and Iryna Levshina were accused of creating an 'extremist formation' from among the employees of the BelaPAN CJSC and other persons, as well as of leading such a formation under Part 1 of Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code;

- Andrei Alexandrov and Dmitry Novozhilov were accused of “tax evasion by a news agency” under Part 2 of Art. 243 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

The Investigative Committee stated that BelaPAN employees allegedly evaded taxes for BYR 449,000 over six years and received hidden funding from foreign organizations in the amount of $1.6 million since 2014.

Recall that journalist Ales Lipai set up BelaPAN in 1991. In August 2018, BelaPAN employees, together with the editorial office of tut.by, were detained as defendants in the BelTA case. In the same month, CEO Ales Lipai died of illness. The BelaPAN's online publication Naviny.by was blocked after the protests outbreak in 2020.