Accents

On Human Rights Day, December 10, 2021, the Seimas of Lithuania hosted the Lithuanian-Belarusian forum “Human Rights and Journalism” attended by representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and international human rights organizations. The forum participants discussed the human rights situation in Belarus, ways to influence the situation and provide assistance to the media community.

ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned about the criminal charges pursued in Belarus against Belsat TV journalists Ekaterina Bakhvalova and Daria Chultsova. Both journalists were covering the peaceful protests taking place on 15 November 2020 that demanded a change of the ruling government and of the president, and accountability for the tortures and killings of protesters like Roman Bondarenka. Journalists are now facing criminal charges for organising actions that grossly violate public order, and active participation in them. ARTICLE 19 argues that journalists are simply prosecuted for carrying out their role – gathering and sharing important information about protests and ensuring accountability of public bodies for their actions. We call on the Belarusian courts to immediately and unconditionally drop these charges and refrain from bringing similar charges in the future.