Belarus: Lukashenka pardons NEXTA editor Raman Pratasevich
On 3 May, Pratasevich was convicted of several criminal offences including organising mass protests, publicly calling for the seizure of state power and acts of terrorism. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Civil society groups reaffirm continued solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners
Marking the Day of the Political Prisoner in Belarus, civil society groups, IFEX among them, stress that they will continue to show unwavering support to the people of Belarus repressed for exercising their vital human rights and journalistic work.
Day of solidarity with Belarus’s political prisoners
Rights organisations will take part in a day of solidarity with Belarus’s political prisoners on 21 May. BAJ explains the importance of the day and provides a schedule of events.
Belarus: Prosecutor requests lengthy prison terms for ‘NEXTA’ trio
Belarusian prosecutor seeks 10 years for Raman Pratasevich, 19 years in absentia for Yan Rudzik, and 20 years in absentia for Stsypan Putsila.
Journalist Alyaksandr Mantsevich charged with ‘discrediting Belarus’
Mantsevich faces up to four years in prison if convicted of disseminating “knowingly false information discrediting Belarus and its authorities”.
Belarus: Journalists Maryna Zolatava and Valeryia Kastsiuhova handed long prison sentences
Zolatava, editor-in-chief of TUT.BY, was handed 12 years in prison; Kastsiuhova, editor of website ‘Nashe Mneniye’, received ten years. Both were convicted on charges relating to harming national security and incitement to hatred.
Several journalists detained in Belarus
“The latest wave of searches and detentions in Belarus is a clear indication that the country’s crackdown on the media continues unabated” – CPJ
OSCE and IFEX members condemn designation of BAJ as “extremist organisation”
On 28 February, the Belarusian State Security Committee recognised the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) as an “extremist organisation”. BAJ is the first Belarusian human rights organisation to receive this status.
CSOs urge Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism on Belarus
“The new mechanism should have a mandate to: document patterns of human rights violations and abuses committed in Belarus, with particular focus on those which amount to international crimes; identify those responsible; and advance much-needed future accountability.”
Belarus: Journalist Andrzej Poczobut sentenced to 8 years in prison
Poczobut was found guilty of allegedly encouraging actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus and inciting ethnic hostility. Arrested in March 2021, he refused to sign a petition asking Lukashenka for a pardon.
Belarus in 2022: The targeting of journalists and media continues
BAJ’s review of 2022 highlights 33 journalists in prison, 17 heavy prison sentences, and nine media outlets classified as “extremist organisations”.
“We don’t want Belarus to become an information black hole”
Press freedom experts met in Lithuania to discuss Belarus’s ongoing crackdown on independent media, which has seen approximately 400 journalists forced into exile and 32 still behind bars.
Belarus: TV journalist Ksenia Lutskina sentenced to eights years in prison
Lutskina, a former correspondent for the state broadcaster Belteleradio (BT), has been detained since December 2020 and was charged with an unconstitutional “conspiracy to seize state power”.
Belarus: Ukrainian journalist Dzianis Ivashyn sentenced to 13 years and one month in prison
The KGB accused Ivashyn of cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence after he investigated the Belarusian police’s recruitment of former Ukrainian riot officers. Ivashyn was charged with “treason” and “interference in the activities of an employee of internal affairs”.
BAJ raises journalist Dzianis Ivashyn’s case with UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression
Arrested in March 2021 and facing up to three years in prison if convicted on the dubious charge of “interference in the activities of an internal affairs officer”, Ivashyn has spent part of his detention in solitary confinement, where he also suffered a heart attack.
Belarus: Journalist Darya Chultsova released after two years in penal colony
In 2020, Belsat TV journalist Darya Chultsova was convicted – along with journalist Katsaryna Andreyeva – of dubious public order offences after she covered anti-Lukashenka protests in Minsk.