Judge orders transfer of journalist to prison without reaching out to lawyer

July 27, BPN. Authorities have transferred journalist Dzianis Ivašyn from a penal colony to a prison in Žodzina, Minsk region, his wife said, citing a letter from the penal colony’s head to his mother.

The wife, Volha Ivašyna, said the transfer was authorized by a district judge in Mahiloŭ. She said the judge failed to notify Ivašyn’s defense attorney about the trial, which she denounced as a sham and a circus.

The journalist was sentenced to the higher-security facility one month ago. The reason is still unknown to the family.

Ivašyn was a volunteer editor at Ukraine’s InfromNapalm. He also cooperated with Belarus’ independent weekly Novy Čas. He investigated Russian meddling in Belarus, construction at a Soviet-era massacre site, and the controversial recruitment of former Ukrainian riot police officers by Belarus.

He was arrested in March 2021. Later that month, the Committee for State Security (KGB) accused him of spying for Ukraine and causing damage to Belarus’ national security.

Judge Valeryj Ramanoŭski of the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced him to 13 years and 1 month in prison at a closed-door session on September 14.

Belarus has at least 36 imprisoned reporters, says the Belarusian Association of Journalists.