MINSK. Feb 18 (Interfax) - Journalists Darya Chultsova and Yekaterina Andreyeva have been sentenced to two years of imprisonment each, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said on Telegram on Thursday.
"Journalists Darya Chultsova and Yekaterina Andreyeva have been sentenced to two years of imprisonment. The sentence was handed down by Frunzensky District Judge Natalia Buguk," the association said.
Public prosecutor Alia Kasyanchik demanded a two-year sentence for Andreyeva and Chultsova.
As reported earlier, journalists of the Polish Belsat television channel Andreyeva (Bakhvalova) and Chultsova were detained on November 15, 2020, during an unsanctioned protest in Minsk. They were streaming the protest on Belsat from a 14th floor apartment on Smorgovsky Trakt Street, near the so-called "Square of Change," at the invitation of the apartment owners. The police detained several dozen people and used riot control equipment in the area that day.
On November 17, the Oktyabrsky District Court sentenced the journalists to seven days of administrative arrest for violating the rules for the organization or holding of mass events. On November 20, they were charged with organizing and preparing actions that flagrantly breach the public peace. The women were arrested and placed at the Zhodino prison.
The journalists were accused of taking part in and guiding "mass actions, which flagrantly breached the public peace" and hindered the work of public transport services.
According to investigators, the actions of Andreyeva and Chultsova disrupted transport services on 13 bus routes, three trolleybus routes, and three streetcar routes. The damage done to the Minsktrans public transport company was estimated at 11,562 Belarusian rubles and 14 kopecks [over $4,400]. Human rights activists have called Andreyeva and Chultsova political prisoners.