EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez: What are we waiting for to impose sanctions on those responsible?

The wave of repres­sion against jour­nal­ists con­tin­ues in Belarus. On the side­lines of the demon­stra­tions on Fri­day, Sat­ur­day and Sun­day against the dis­put­ed pres­i­dent Lukashenko, eleven jour­nal­ists were abu­sive­ly detained by the secu­ri­ty forces. Nine of them are still in prison today. The Euro­pean Fed­er­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists (EFJ) demands their imme­di­ate release.

The EFJ affil­i­ate in Belarus, the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists (BAJ), which con­tin­ues to mon­i­tor any vio­la­tion of press free­dom in the coun­try, issued today the list of detained jour­nal­ists:

• Cata­ri­na Andree­va (Bel­sat), detained in Min­sk on Sat­ur­day;

• Max Kali­tovky, detained in Min­sk on Sat­ur­day;

• Ali­axan­dr Vasyukovich, detained in Min­sk on Sun­day;

• Uladz Hry­dzin, detained in Min­sk on Sun­day;

• Lar­isa Shchyrako­va, detained in Homel on Fri­day;

• Andrei Tolchin, detained in Homel on Fri­day;

• Ales Sabaleus­ki, detained in Mahilou on Sun­day;

• Zmitser Kaza­ke­vich, detained in Viteb­sk;

• Ali­axan­dr Chy­hir, detained in Babruysk;

• Zmitzer Pankaw­iec (Nasha Niva), detained in Min­sk on Sun­day;

• Art­sem Lia­va (Bel­sat), detained in Min­sk on Sun­day.

Since the fraud­u­lent pres­i­den­tial elec­tions of 9 August, 171 jour­nal­ists have been arbi­trar­i­ly detained by secu­ri­ty forces in Belarus.

Zmitzer Pankaw­iec and Art­sem Lia­va have been released, but the oth­er nine are still in prison, await­ing tri­al.

“We demand their imme­di­ate release and call for an end to the mul­ti­ple intim­i­da­tions record­ed in oth­er cities,” said EFJ Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Ricar­do Gutiér­rez. “We once again call on the OSCE, the Coun­cil of Europe and the Euro­pean Union to take con­crete mea­sures against those who rigged the elec­tions and who are try­ing to build a wall of silence on mass demon­stra­tions. What are we wait­ing for to impose sanc­tions on those respon­si­ble? What are we wait­ing for to send an inter­na­tion­al mis­sion to observe the ongo­ing human rights vio­la­tions?”