Death of Raman Bandarenka
As of November 27, 2020, no criminal case has been instituted on Bandarenka's death, while TUT.BY journalist Katsyaryna Barysevich and doctor Artsyom Sorokin, who reported medical information that the murdered man was completely sober, refuting the words of Alexander Lukashenko and Natalya Kochanova that Bandarenka was drunk, had been detained in connection with the criminal case upon them. On November 24, the human rights organization Amnesty International named them prisoners of conscience in the Bandarenka matter. On the same day, ten organizations (the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and others) made a joint statement. It said that Katsyaryna Barysevich is a political prisoner. Boris Haretski, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, said that the authorities were not fighting the problem, but the media, “They think that if the press does not write about Bandarenka, people will not find out about it. Of course, they will know everything, but the media is still under attack." On March 2, 2021, Barysevich was sentenced to serve a half-year in prison and to pay a fine for damages in 100 basic units for writing on the late Raman Bandarenka, doctor Artsyom Sorokin got two years in prison and a fine in 50 basic units.