Tatsiana Matveyeva
Affiliated media: Journalist Freelancer
Incident date: August 25, 2022
Attack type:
- Criminal/administrative prosecution excluding (1), (2) and (3)
Who attacked: Authorities
Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists
Location: Belarus, Vitebsk
Additional information:
The Oktyabrsky District Court of Vitebsk arrested journalist Tatsiana Matveyeva for 8 days. Judge Uladzimir Tsarikau found her guilty of unauthorized picketing (Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus). The reason for the administrative prosecution was an avatar that Oktyabrsky District Police Department officer Uladzislau Shishkovets found in the archives of Matveyeva’s Facebook account: a photo with white-red-white stripes superimposed on it and a quote from Belarusian classic Yanka Kupala «Liudzmі zvatsa». Despite the fact that the picture was in the archives and needed a special visit to see it, both the police and the court considered it as a public statement of their social and political views. Tatsiana Matveyeva was taken into custody in the courtroom after the ruling.