Belarus opens three criminal cases against journalist Andrei Mialeshka

Belaru­sian jour­nal­ist Andrei Mialesh­ka says author­i­ties have launched three crim­i­nal cas­es against him, while police also searched his mother’s apart­ment in Hrod­na, where he is offi­cial­ly reg­is­tered.

Andrei Mialesh­ka. Cour­tesy pho­to

On Sep­tem­ber 30, local pros­e­cu­tors called the journalist’s sis­ter in Hrod­na, urg­ing her to tell him to return to Belarus, repent, and apply to a gov­ern­ment “repa­tri­a­tion com­mis­sion,” promis­ing charges would be dropped.

Accord­ing to Mialesh­ka, his sis­ter learned he faces charges under arti­cles 361–1 (“cre­at­ing or par­tic­i­pat­ing in an extrem­ist for­ma­tion,” up to 10 years in prison), 361–2 (“financ­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty,” up to 8 years), and 361–4 (“assist­ing extrem­ist activ­i­ty,” up to 7 years). He says no offi­cial doc­u­ments were pro­vid­ed.

Mialesh­ka believes the accu­sa­tions stem from inter­views he gave in 2023 and 2024 to out­lets banned in Belarus as “extrem­ist.”

On Sep­tem­ber 19, inves­ti­ga­tors searched his ill mother’s home, though rel­a­tives said his belong­ings had already been seized in ear­li­er raids. About a year ago, offi­cers also came to his offi­cial address in Hrod­na, but his moth­er refused to let them in and called the police. The offi­cers left, but no police arrived.

Mialesh­ka says in 2023 he was also charged with par­tic­i­pat­ing in “extrem­ist” for­ma­tions — the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists and Radio Racy­ja — though he has heard noth­ing fur­ther about those cas­es.

Recent­ly, the Infor­ma­tion Min­istry also added his Insta­gram accounts (ami­alesh­ka and batumiby.ge) and his Telegram chan­nel, linked to a shop sell­ing Belaru­sian-themed goods, to its list of “extrem­ist con­tent.”

Mialesh­ka fled Belarus in 2021, fear­ing polit­i­cal per­se­cu­tion. He lived in Batu­mi, Geor­gia, until Sep­tem­ber 2024, when he and his daugh­ter were denied entry at Kutaisi air­port and deport­ed to War­saw. He now lives in Białys­tok, Poland, with his old­er daugh­ter, while his wife and younger child remain in Batu­mi, unable to obtain Pol­ish visas.