Belarusian Journalist Sergey Chabotska Detained Under Ongoing Repression of Independent Media
Sergey Chabotska (Сяргей Чабоцька), born 1983, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Grodno /Grodna / Hrodna -based (Гродна), Belarus, news website s13.ru, has been behind bars since 23 October 2023. His prolonged detention highlights the escalating crackdown on independent media in Belarus, where authorities continue to silence critical voices by labeling journalists and media outlets as “extremist formations.” He is in the prison No. 1 in Hrodna with more than 20 other political prisoners.
You can read Belarusian Association of Journalists (Беларускаяасацыяцыяжурналістаў – BAJ) article about this case here: https://baj.media/be/sjargeja-chabocku-pryznali-palitychnym-vjaznem/
Chabotska was initially detained on 23 October 2024 after which both the s13.ruwebsite and its social media channels ceased updates. On 25 October 2024 he was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest under Article 19.11 of the Belarusian Administrative Violations Code, which penalizes the dissemination of so-called “extremist materials.” The charges reportedly stemmed from archived articles on the website that featured a logo of another media outlet previously blacklisted by Belarusian authorities as extremist.
Following his initial arrest, the Leninsky District (Ленинскийрайон) Court of Grodno handed down additional sentences to Chabotska. On 6 November 2024 he was sentenced to another 15 days of administrative detention under Article 24.23, which punishes violations of the legal procedures for holding public gatherings. On 22 November 2024 Chabotska was sentenced to a third consecutive 15-day term for allegedly distributing extremist content.
Despite the completion of his administrative arrests on 7 December 2024 Chabotska was not released. It is believed that his detention has now escalated to criminal proceedings, though no details have been publicly disclosed. Rights groups suspect that he may be facing charges under more serious statutes, a tactic frequently used by Belarusian authorities to keep dissidents in detention indefinitely.
On 28 October 2024 the Grodno court officially declared s13.ru and its associated Telegram channels as “extremist materials,” effectively banning the content and criminalizing any interaction with the website. Just a few days later, on 6 November 2024 the Belarusian Committee for State Security (Комитетгосударственнойбезопасности – KGB) designated s13.ru as an “extremist formation,” implicatingChabotska as part of this group.
The charges are for the creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it under Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus
The Belarusian human rights community has condemned the government’s arbitrary use of “extremism” labels to criminalize journalists, activists, and citizens critical of the regime. Media outlets, including Hrodna.life (https://hrodna.life/), have reported on Chabotska’s case, noting that the crackdown on media in Grodno is part of a broader national effort to suppress freedom of speech.
The s13.ru portal, which started as a blog in 2005 and grew into a popular local news aggregator, served as a vital source of information in Grodno for nearly two decades. Its closure marks another blow to media pluralism in Belarus.
The ongoing persecution of journalists and media outlets under the guise of “extremism” laws is part of a wider strategy by Belarusian authorities to stifle dissent. The detention of Chabotska and other media professionals highlights the critical state of press freedom in Belarus, where expressing independent opinions is increasingly being criminalized.
The case of Sergey Chabotska is yet another alarming example of the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus. Independent journalists must be allowed to work without fear of imprisonment. The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) will continue to monitor Chabotska’s case, as also all other cases in Belarus, and calls for his immediate release, urging the international community to increase pressure on Belarusian authorities to end their relentless attacks on press freedom.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regionalnon-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives andleading journalists in Southeast, South,East and Central Europe. SEEMOmembers are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria),Montenegro, NorthMacedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine andUzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and SanMarino have a special statusin SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members,and additional mediaas corporate members.
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