Belarus Prosecutors Take Opposition Reporter To Court For Patient Privilege Disclosure

Belarus Prosecutors Take Opposition Reporter to Court for Patient Privilege Disclosure

The Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office said on Friday that it had taken to court a criminal case against a journalist from the tut.by news portal, Katerina Borisevich, and doctor Artyom Sorokin, who are accused of disclosing patient confidentiality in relation to the controversial death of an opposition activist

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) The Belarusian Prosecutor General's Office said on Friday that it had taken to court a criminal case against a journalist from the tut.by news portal, Katerina Borisevich, and doctor Artyom Sorokin, who are accused of disclosing patient confidentiality in relation to the controversial death of an opposition activist.

The reporter and the doctor were detained in the fall and put under criminal proceedings after Borisevich published information on�Roman Bondarenko's death. The 31-year-old activist died in the hospital, to which he was sent from a police department. While the police claimed the activist was drunk, the tut.by portal released medical records showing no alcohol was his blood.

"The Prosecutor General's Office completed the investigation and took to the Minsk City Court a criminal case on incitement to divulge medical secrecy and its disclosure to determine jurisdiction. The defendants are Katerina Borisevich ... and Artyom Sorokin," the authority wrote on Telegram.

According to prosecutor, Borisevich, having initially received a refusal from other health workers to provide information about the activist's death, was aware that the requested information constituted medical secrecy, which she was not entitled to receive and distribute.