Journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva sentenced to eight years in prison for high treason
Darya Chultsova and Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava) during a trial in February 2021. Photo: belsat.eu
Today, July 13, 2022, Homieĺ Regional Court pronounced the sentence on a political prisoner, a journalist for the Belsat TV channel Katsiaryna Andreyeva. Katsiaryna was previously convicted to two years of imprisonment for a live broadcast from the place of the violent police crackdown on a peaceful protest in the ‘Square of Changes’ in Minsk on November 15, 2020. This time she was convicted under Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code for high treason.
Katsiaryna Andreyeva was arrested together with Darya Chultsova, for broadcasting the event in memory of Raman Bandarenka who was beaten to death in 2020. The journalists witnessed the violent dispersal of the peaceful protesters, the demolition of the memorial, and brutal arrests.
Katsiaryna was sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. She was supposed to be released on September 5. However, on April 7, the family of the political prisoner learned that Katsiaryna had been charged under a serious article with high treason.
The details of the indictment were unknown, as the lawyer was under a non-disclosure order, and the trial was held in private. According to Zerkalo.io, the journalist was found guilty of ‘giving state secrets of the Republic of Belarus to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representative”. Judge Aleh Kharoshka sentenced Katsiaryna Andreyeva to eight years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony. The trial was held in three sessions. In addition, Katsiaryna still has to serve three months left on her first sentence.
