Babruisk ideologist threatens independent newspaper editor

An incident occurred during a picket organized by democratic candidate Matvei Khatari.

Anatoly Sanatenka, the editor-in-chief of Bobruiski Kuryer newspaper, went to the picket with a video camera. He heard “Beware, you can stumble and break your camera” as he was passing by a group of people nearby. They then said something insulting about journalist's health, the press service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reports.

The author of the words was Alyaksandr Markachou, the deputy head of the Babruisk city executive committee responsible for ideology.

The incident took place in the presence of some officers of the ideology department of the Babruisk city executive committee.

The editor, who recorded the whole scene,  is now considering what to do with the footage. “Who could expect a middle-aged representative of the local authorities to behave like a teen hooligan?” the journalist says.

Anatoly Sanatenka received information that Alyaksandr Markachou also hindered Viktar Buzinau, candidate's election agent, to take photos and threatened to break his camera five minutes before the incident with the journalist.