The head of one of the regional newspapers in Belarus, Regionalnaya Gazeta, has been arrested on charges of damaging the country’s reputation, according to the website of the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office. Two weeks ago, his arrest, along with other colleagues, was condemned by non-governmental organizations.

“The prosecutor of the Molodechno district authorized the application of a preventive measure in the form of detention against the 64-year-old head of the regional editorial office of the newspaper,” the corresponding report says.

According to the investigation, “the suspect, as the director of the editorial office of the newspaper, together with other persons, from January 1, 2020 to March 15, 2023, disseminated in the print media and their online sources deliberately false information discrediting Belarus and its principles.”

By the decision of the Molodechno District Court, this information product was recognized as extremist, the prosecutor’s office reported.

The Prosecutor General’s Office clarified that the maximum penalty under Article 369-1 of the Criminal Code for disseminating knowingly false information about the political, economic, social, military or international situation of Belarus, discrediting the Republic, is up to four years in prison. years. .

The prosecutor’s office did not give the name of the detainee, but according to the TASS agency, this is the newspaper Regionalnaya Gazeta from Molotekhno, relatively close to the capital Minsk, and its co-founder, publisher and director Alexander Madsevich, who was arrested by law enforcement in mid-March.

The regime of President Alexander Lukashenko has reportedly imprisoned dozens of dissident journalists.

According to Reporters Without Borders, the Belarusian authorities shut down Regionalnaya Gazeta in 2004 after taking a stand before parliamentary elections and a referendum on the pretext that it did not tell the authorities that it would be distributing the insert with the program. television.

Source: TASS