Siarhei Satsuk

Siarhei Sat­suk, jour­nal­ist and edi­tor at Ezhed­nevnik, behind bars since 8 Decem­ber 2021.

A pio­neer of inves­tiga­tive jour­nal­ism in Belarus was arrest­ed on 8 Decem­ber 2021 after his home was searched. He was tak­en for ques­tion­ing by the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee under Arti­cle 430 of the Crim­i­nal Code (bribe-tak­ing).

On 25 March 2020, Sat­suk had already been arrest­ed in the same case. The human rights orga­ni­za­tions then point­ed to «a polit­i­cal motive behind the pros­e­cu­tion of the jour­nal­ist, aimed at forc­ing him to stop spread­ing infor­ma­tion about cor­rup­tion.» On 4 April 2020, the Gen­er­al Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus can­celed the deci­sion to take Siarhei Sat­suk into cus­tody.

In June 2022, it became known that the jour­nal­ist was also accused of incit­ing social hatred (Arti­cle 130 of the Crim­i­nal Code) and abuse of office (Arti­cle 426 of the Crim­i­nal Code). It is not known what spe­cif­ic actions of the edi­tor are relat­ed to the charges.

On 26 Octo­ber 2022, Min­sk City Court sen­tenced Siarhei Sat­suk to 8 years in prison. He was also pun­ished with a fine of $11,100. Accord­ing to the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists, Satsuk’s sen­tence is an act of revenge for his high-pro­file inves­ti­ga­tions.

Human rights activists rec­og­nized the jour­nal­ist as a polit­i­cal pris­on­er.

Sen­tence: 8 years of impris­on­ment under Arti­cles 430 (bribe-tak­ing), 130 (incit­ing social hatred or enmi­ty), and 426 of the Crim­i­nal Code (abuse of office).

Judge: Svi­at­lana Ban­daren­ka

Birth­day: 15 April 1968