Brest: freelance journalist Ales Liauchuk sentenced to a fine

Ales Liauchuk was charged with being involved in producing an interview with a player of Brest soccer club “Dynamo” Raman Vasiliuk, which had been broadcast at the satellite TV channel “Belsat”.

The trial took place July 2 at the Lieninski District Court of Brest. The sportsman didn't deny having a talk with the journalist, but there was no evidence that it was an interview, designed for “Belsat”.

Mr. Liauchuk, in his turn, claimed to be a freelance correspondent for the news agency BelaPAN and stated that he had taken the interview for this news agency. However, Judge Aleh Miraniuk ignored these arguments and fined the journalist 9 million rubles.

According to our information, another administrative case is being prepared against Ales Liauchuk for a report about the religious conflict in the agrarian settlement of Belavezhski, which was also broadcast on “Belsat”.