Euroradio journalist Pavel Svyardlou's accreditation cancelled

The reason for Belarus MFA's action was the administrative detention of the correspondent who was accused of public swearing back in June 2012.

Euroradio reminds, Pavel Svyardlou was detained by riot policemen in the morning on June 22 near his house. On that very day, judge of the Maskouski district court of Minsk Tatsyana Motyl punished him with 15 days of detention for swearing in public although the journalist denied his guilt. Svyardlou is a teacher of cultural studies and holder of the "Crystal Owl" intellectual award. In the police charges, based on the policemen's testimonies, it is claimed that he swore "at no one and for no reason". The detention and the trial were so rapid that the lawyer couldn't make it to arrive to the court in time.

 
Pavel Svyardlou's neighbour saw the moment of detention. According to him, two strong blocks approached Pavel Svyardlou at 10 a.m. on June 22 and led him to a blue minibus. The journalist did not resist or say anything.

However, the judge thought that the testimonies of two policemen reflected the incident truthfully. She did not pay attention to the discrepancies in their testimonies. One of them informed that he heard Pavel Svyardlou swearing at the address Lermantava St., 5, when the policeman was at Rafieu St., 80. However, there is no such address, and the distance between the two mentioned streets is about 5 kilometers. It would be difficult to hear anything.

Minsk city court left judge Tatsyana Motyl's decision in force. Judge Alena Shylko considered the case. She is in the list of the officials who are prohibited to enter the European Union countries, the same as Tatsyana Motyl.

Claiming the resolution in the Supreme Court gave no result either - the court paid no attention to the witnesses’ testimony because Svyardlou allegedly insisted there were no witnesses of his detention apart from the policemen, at the initial hearing.

Pavel Svyardlou had accreditation till April 30, 2013. The MFA accredited him at the Euroradio correspondent office in Minsk in 2010 and prolonged the accreditation twice. According to Claim 15.2 of the "Resolution on Order for Accreditation of Foreign Journalists", the MFA has a right to cancel a journalist's accreditation if he breaks the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.