Criminal case launched against former Belarusian journalist Siarhei Skulavets

Siarhei Skulavets was based in Ivat­se­vichy, where he was involved in busi­ness activ­i­ties and col­lab­o­rat­ed with the Bel­sat TV chan­nel. In June 2023, he was informed that anoth­er raid on jour­nal­ists was antic­i­pat­ed. Con­se­quent­ly, Siarhei relo­cat­ed with his fam­i­ly to the Unit­ed States.

Siarhei Skulavets. Pho­to: Julia Cialpuk / Face­book

On 23 Sep­tem­ber 2024, the for­mer jour­nal­ist pub­lished a state­ment on Face­book indi­cat­ing that the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee of Belarus had ini­ti­at­ed legal pro­ceed­ings against him.

“They arrived at my mother’s res­i­dence with a search war­rant, exam­ined her mobile phone, and accom­pa­nied her to my farm­house. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, I am not privy to the specifics. Still, I can con­firm that the case is relat­ed to Bel­sat,” states Siarhei Skulavets.

Siarhei Skulavets, a 43-year-old entre­pre­neur from Ivat­se­vichy, owned and oper­at­ed a farm where he bred oxen and grew cucum­bers. Con­cur­rent­ly, he was employed as a jour­nal­ist for Bel­sat, while the farm pro­vid­ed a source of income. In late 2018, the author­i­ties attempt­ed to hold Skulavets admin­is­tra­tive­ly liable for his jour­nal­is­tic activ­i­ties.

This year, while resid­ing in exile, Siarhei pro­vid­ed an inter­view to dis­cuss his expe­ri­ences with per­se­cu­tion, his life in Amer­i­ca, and his rea­sons for not return­ing to jour­nal­ism.