MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the sentencing of a Belarusian reporter from the tut.by news portal, Katerina Borisevich, and called for her release.
On Tuesday, a court in Belarusian capital Minsk sentenced Borisevich to six months in prison and a fine, and anesthesiologist Artyom Sorokin to two years in prison with a one-year suspended sentence and a fine for divulging medical secrets regarding the health of deceased opposition activist Roman Bondarenko. The trial was held behind closed doors.
"CPJ condemns the sentencing of Belarus journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich to 6 months in jail," the committee said.
"Today's sentencing of journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich is yet another example of how the Belarusian authorities will bully into silence any journalist who would dare to report independently. Barysevich should be released immediately and allowed to continue her work freely and safely," Gulnoza Said, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said.
