The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Yuri Karaev, instructed his subordinates not to touch journalists during the protests in the country. This was announced on Wednesday, August 12, at the press service of the Belarusian department.
“My principled position is not to touch journalists! Except in cases where they get between violators and the forces of law and order, “Interfax quoted him as saying.
Karaev also stressed that the issues of the work of the Belarusian media and accredited foreign journalists at protests in the cities of the republic were taken under his personal control. In addition, the head of the department added that in most cases, detained journalists are released without drawing up protocols.
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to the latest data from the Central Election Commission, the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko won 80.08% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.09% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote.
After the announcement of the preliminary results, unauthorized protests began in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, which resumed in the evening on August 10 and 11. Both civilians and security forces suffered, one person died.
There were also detentions of journalists. Among them were the WarGonzo project manager and REN TV freelance journalist Semyon Pegov, Daily Storm employees Anton Starkov and Dmitry Lasenko, RIA Novosti photojournalist Ilya Pitalev, Meduza journalist Maxim Solopov, RT correspondent Konstantin Pridybailo, and Dozhd TV correspondents and RT stringers working with video agency Ruptly.