Freelance journalist Kanstantsin Zhukouski faces fresh charges

Kanstantsin Zhukouski, a freelance journalist in Homieĺ, has received a phone call from an employee of the Vietka district police department who said that the journalist faced administrative charges and was invited to testify in the case. However, Mr. Zhukouski refused to come saying that he saw no reason to give evidence, as his case was politically motivated.

“Another administrative charge for telling the truth – that’s everyday work of a Belarusian freelancer,” says Zhukouski.

The charges stem from a TV report about the problems of the local textile factory and a dairy.

Earlier this month, the journalist faced similar charges in Buda-Kašaliova, where he shot a story about unpaid holidays at a local dairy.

On January 20, the Karma District Court heard another administrative charge against the freelancer. As a result, he was found guilty of illegal manufacturing of media products (Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code) and sentenced to a fine of 6.3 mln rubles.

Last week, Zhukouski received a decision by the court of Kalinkavičy district, which fined 7.35 million rubles.

On February 4, the court of Buda-Kašaliova district is expected to consider another similar administrative case against Kanstantsin Zhukouski.