Police draw up two more violation reports on Kanstantsin Zhukouski

Drawing up reports under Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code (illegal manufacturing media products) against Homieĺ freelance journalist Kanstantsin Zhukouski has been put on the conveyor by the local police. Over the past two months, they had compiled five such reports on the journalist in connection with implementation of his professional duties.

Three of the reports have been considered by the court, who has punished Mr. Zhukouski with huge fines.

The last trial took place at the Homieĺ District Court on May 22. As a result, the activist was fined 25 basic units for shooting a video in the village of Čaracianka in the Homieĺ district in March 2015. Afterwards, the satellite TV channel BelSat broadcast a report about the neglected village. The freelance journalist was charged with working for foreign media without receiving the MFA accreditation for it.

On May 30, Mr. Zhukouski received by mail two violation reports, drawn up at the Buda-Kašaliova District Police Department and the Centraĺny District Police Department of Homieĺ. In both cases, the reports concern the video materials whose shooting was considered as a violation by the police.

Thus, in the report drawn up by the head of the division of public order and prevention of the Centraĺny DPD of Homieĺ Yury Panin it is stated that on March 15 “BelSat” broadcast a video report, titled “Lecturer's Suicide”, concerning the suicide of a lecturer of the Hrodna State University named after Francysk Skaryna. The woman could lose her apartment, as the administration of the university registered the lecturers' apartments as a hostel and therefore made their spaces a subject to manipulations.

“The reports was illegally manufactured by citizen Kanstantsin Zhukouski, who is not accredited on the territory of the Republic of Belarus as a correspondent for the Polish TV channel,” reads the laconic police report.

A similar report was drawn up by the Buda-Kašaliova DPD for a report about the people who are registered literally nowhere – their houses had been demolished in the course of preparation to the official festival “Dažynki”.

Thus, we can state the systemic persecution of Kanstantsin Zhukouski for his freelance journalism.