KYIV (Reuters) – A Belarusian court on Tuesday sentenced a journalist to six months in prison for divulging medical secrets, after she had contradicted official statements about the killing of a protester who the authorities suggested was drunk at the time.
Katerina Borisevich had reported that there was no alcohol in the bloodstream of protester Roman Bondarenko when he died.
Artyom Sorokin, the doctor who had shared Bondarenko’s medical report with Borisevich, was given a suspended sentence.
The death of 31-year-old Bondarenko became a flashpoint in months of mass protests against veteran President Alexander Lukashenko, who launched a violent crackdown that has triggered Western sanctions on Minsk but support from Russia.
The authorities alleged that revealing information about Bondarenko posed a threat to public safety.
(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Edmund Blair)
