Belarusian Journalist Faces Trial For Working Without Accreditation

HOMEL, Belarus -- A Belarusian journalist contributing as a freelancer to the Poland-based Belsat television channel is being tried on suspicion of working without accreditation.

Kastus Zhukouski was summoned to a hearing in southeastern city of Homel on April 20.

The legal pressure comes after Zhukouski interviewed a resident in a nearby village regarding financial hardships faced by elderly citizens on April 12.

Belsat aired the interview on April 13.

Belsat TV is a Polish state-run satellite television channel that broadcasts into Belarus in the Belarusian and Russian languages, irritating authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government.

Zhukouski has been tried twice before over reports for Belsat TV.

On April 2, he was fined $375, and in December he was fined $65 for working without proper accreditation.