Iryna Khalip Summoned to Prosecutor’s Office again

According to RFE/RL

On 7 December the journalist Iryna Khalip was summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus. The prosecutors Stanislaw Novikaw and Sviataslaw Holik paid interest to the article “Drunk Executioners” in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. In this article it was mentioned that Belarus is the only European country with death penalty.

Iryna Khalip also described the details of the fusillades in Minsk and the visit of the head of the brigade of special police forces Zmitser Pawlichenka to the investigative isolator where death sentences were executed. The prosecutor’s tried to find out what was the source for the factual materials of the article and took official explanations from the journalists about it. Iryna Khalip is of the opinion that most probably the highest Belarusian officials ordered their subordinates to punish those who criticized the authorities during the electoral period and the duty officials execute this order.