Journalist Sharoyko convicted for espionage in Belorus appealed for pardon

Photo credits: from Interfax-Ukraine Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sharoyko, convicted in Belarus for espionage to 8 years in prison, has appealed for pardon, as Belarussian deputy Prosecutor general Alexei Stuk said, the Interfax-Ukraine reported. “He lodged  a petition for pardon. The commission is considering it now,” Stuck said at the press conference on Tuesday in Minsk. The deputy Prosecutor general noted that "the final decision is pending the satisfaction of certain conditions", but he failed to precise what kind of conditions he was talking about. They informed of Sharoyko’s arrest on November 20, 2017. According to the State Security Committee of Belarus, the coordination of intelligence activities in Belorus had been fulfilled by Ihor Skvortsov, employee of the Main intelligence directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who acted under the cover of an adviser to the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk. Skvortsov was expelled from Belarus. Ukraine, guided by the principle of reciprocity, expelled a Belarusian diplomat in its turn. On February 19, 2018, the Supreme Court of Belarus sentenced Sharoyko to eight years in prison for spying. On January 2019, IMI reported, that Sharoyko was transferred to the correctional facility. Earlier, the KGB of Belarus declared that they could pardon the Ukrainian.