The Russian journalists released in Belarus, Semyon Pegov, Dmitry Lasenko and Anton Starkov, will first be delivered to the Russian Embassy in Minsk, then a decision will be made on their departure to Smolensk. This was announced on Monday, August 10, by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, RIA Novosti reports.
According to her, the question still remains open why Russian journalists were not promptly granted accreditation to cover the presidential elections in Belarus.
“At this moment, three of our journalists are being taken away from the place where they were kept and taken to our embassy. There they will rest, and then they will make a decision when they will be transported to Smolensk, ”Zakharova said on the air of the Soloviev Live program.
The diplomat added that the journalists submitted documents for accreditation in Belarus at the set time, and “they did it based on the requirements of the Belarusian side, and thereby demonstrated that they wanted to work legally and professionally”.
“Why this accreditation was not granted to them is a big question,” Zakharova said.
Earlier on August 10, it became known that the war correspondent, the head of the WarGonzo project and the freelance journalist of REN TV, Semyon Pegov, detained in Belarus, was released. Also released were the Daily Storm journalists Anton Starkov and Dmitry Lasenko.
The video of Pegov’s detention was published by the TUT.by portal. The footage shows how the Belarusian security forces are dragging a non-resisting journalist across the asphalt.
After that, for a long time, journalists could not establish the whereabouts of a colleague. We managed to find out that he was in the Minsk Isolation Center for violators, but Russian diplomats were not allowed to see him.
The day before, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to the CEC, Lukashenko won 80.08% of the vote, and Svetlana Tihanovskaya – 10.09%.
Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters refused to recognize the official data of the country’s Central Election Commission, noting that headquarters data from polling stations in all regions of the republic show her results in 70-80%, while Tikhanovskaya herself believes that she won the elections.
After that, unauthorized protests began in Minsk and other cities of Belarus. As a result, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, about 3 thousand people were detained. The Investigative Committee of the Republic opened criminal cases on the facts of riots and violence against employees of the internal affairs bodies.