[3] She is married to former Belarus presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, an opposition activist and recipient of the 2005 Bruno Kreisky Award.
In 1999, the Belarusian government issued a warning to Imya over an article Khalip had written about the Central Electoral Committee's activities.
According to the chair of the Belarusian Press Committee, the article and the newspaper's coverage of the upcoming presidential elections amounted to "incitement to overthrow the state," and a second warning would lead to the paper's closure.
[5] At that point, Khalip had written multiple articles on corruption in the prosecutor's office for Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta (Belarusian Business Newspaper).
[3] Three years before that, the Gazeta investigative journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin died in highly suspicious circumstances; many factions believe he was poisoned by the KGB.
Khalip, however, has stated she won't stop reporting on civil and human rights abuses, because “[It would] betray my friends.
There is only one way to go ahead.”[5] Khalip’s more notable reporting is related to abduction, detention and torture of Emmanuel Zeltser, a prominent American lawyer who spent 16 months in the Belarusian KGB detention before being released thanks to the intervention of the United States government and human rights organizations, including Amnesty International[1].
As was widely reported, on March 11, 2008, Zeltser and his assistant Vladlena Funk were abducted in London U.K. by the Belarusian KGB operatives.
Both were drugged and secretly renditioned across international borders to Belarus[6] aboard a private jet belonging to Boris Berezovsky, a notorious Russian “oligarch”, wanted by the Interpol for fraud and money laundering [7] and close friend of the Belarusian dictator Alyaksander Lukashenka.
They do not like when their illegal and sometimes criminal actions become known…”[9] Despite the explicit death threats, Khalip and her editors decided to publish the story in the December 9 edition of Novaya Gazeta.
[8][9] On March 3, 2010, it was reported by Charter97.org that Khalip and her husband Andrei Sannikov had been summoned to the Partyzanski District militia department in Minsk for questioning.
Our answers to all questions were decisive “no”, which is absolutely true.”[10] In March 2010, Khalip's husband Andrei Sannikov declared his intention to take part in the Belarus presidential election of 2010 as a candidate.
After the presidential elections took place on December 19, 2010, incumbent Aleksandr Lukashenko was proclaimed the winner with roughly 80% of the popular vote.
On the night of December 19, thousands of protesters peacefully filled a large square in central Minsk, deeming the election results fraudulent.
[12] Hours after the arrest, Khalip borrowed a mobile phone from another detainee and called her mother, asking her to take care of her young son.
[12] On December 25, The Daily Telegraph reported that authorities were threatening to remove Khalip's young son, at the time three years old, from her mother's custody.
They are capable of squeezing her, and this of course is the most sensitive place.”[12] After the announcement, activists rallied for Khalip and her son outside the Belarus Embassy in Moscow, holding signs demanding their reunion.
[18] By January 11, Khalip's mother reported that the authorities found her fit enough to retain custody of the boy, though he was required to undergo a medical check as well.
[21] On February 3, 2011, it was announced that her husband's press secretary, journalist Aleksandr Otroschenkov, had been sentenced to a four-year prison term for participating in the protest rally.
[22] The judgement was handed down by Judge Tatiana Cherkas under article 293 of the Criminal code, despite the fact that Otroschenkov had been involved in the protest solely as a professional journalist.
[24] A family member in touch with Khalip said that the authorities had threatened to revoke their licenses to practice law if they continued to represent her.
[18] On April 15, Minsk city Court heard an appeal from Andrei Sannikov's lawyer Pavel Sapelka against the extent of his detention term, but was denied.
[29] The Committee to Protect Journalists has also called for Belarusian authorities to immediately lift all restrictions on Khalip's movement and to drop the "fabricated" charges against her.
[30] On 16 May, 2011, Khalip was convicted of "organizing and preparing activities severely disruptive of public order" and given a suspended sentence of two years' imprisonment.