Sergei, an investigative journalist and editor of the Belarusian portal "Ezhednevnik" (ej.by), was detained on December 8, 2021, following a search and questioning by the Investigative Committee. He was charged with bribery and placed in pretrial detention. Sergei had previously been detained in connection with this case, from March 25 to April 4, 2020.
It later became known that he was also accused of “inciting hatred and discord” and “abuse of power or official authority.”
Human rights organizations assessed the prosecution as evidence of a political motive in the criminal prosecution of the journalist, aimed at forcing him to stop or change the nature of his activities in disseminating information about corruption.
According to Sergei's colleagues, the prosecution was motivated by his high-profile investigative journalism, primarily concerning large-scale corruption in the healthcare sector. Based on these findings, he reported on unprecedented kickbacks in the supply of expensive equipment, the purchase of an unregistered vaccine that was claimed to have been tested on Belarusian children, and the falsification of data on the spread of COVID-19 in Belarus. Moreover, according to him, these actions took place with the approval of the Ministry of Health.
In October 2023, Sergei was found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
