In early November, the Belarusian authorities deemed the BelaPAN news agency and the Belsat TV channel 'extremist' organisations, thereby putting journalists, readers, subscribers, and followers of these media organisations at risk of criminal prosecution.
This statement was originally published on baj.by on 17 November 2021.
On 1 November 2021, the Belarusian KGB recognised the BelaPAN news agency an ‘extremist’ organization, and on November 3, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus announced that a similar status had been assigned to the Belsat TV channel.
BelaPAN and Belsat are mass media outlets.
Recognition of legal entities as extremist groups implies a criminal prosecution under Art. 361 [1] of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (creation of an extremist formation or participation in it) – not only for journalists and the heads of these editorial offices, but also the readers, subscribers, and followers of these mass media outlets. This is punishable by imprisonment for up to seven or ten years.
These decisions by the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs contradict the norms of both international law and the criminal law of Belarus.
In their legal nature, these actions by law enforcement agencies render it possible to prosecute individuals without establishing their guilt, which contradicts Section 4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
International law norms stipulate that a limitation of freedom of expression is allowed only when necessary, stemming from the respect of the rights or reputations of others, for the protection of national security, public order, or public health or morals (Article 19(3) of the ICCPR).
Thus, the aforementioned decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB on declaring that media outlets are extremist formations are illegitimate in their legal nature.
Given the above, the Belarusian Association of Journalists DEMANDS that authorities:
– Stop the practice of using anti-extremism legislation to illegally restrict freedom of speech
– Cancel the decisions of the KGB of 1 November 2021 and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of 3 November 2021, in deeming the BelaPAN news agency and the Belsat TV channel as extremist organizations
