RFE/RL Reporter Faces Trial In Belarus

By RFE/RL's Belarus Service

November 24, 2014

HRODNA, Belarus -- A correspondent of RFE/RL is facing trial in western Belarusian city of Hrodna for allegedly violating a law on public gatherings.

On November 21, Mikhal Karnevich received a summons for a trial that is scheduled for November 24.

The subpoena said that he is suspected in taking part in an unsanctioned public gathering on October 26.

Karnevich says that on that day he was doing his job as a journalist, covering the public gathering in the southwestern town of Svislach -- a commemoration of  Kastus Kalinovski, a 19th century Belarusian journalist and political activist.

Karnevich has been charged with violating legislation on public gatherings in the past.

In 2011, he was fined $100 for taking part in an unsanctioned public gathering after he covered an antigovernment protest in Hrodna as a journalist.