Accents

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya made a global call to support independent media and journalists on the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus (February 9). February 9 will mark 1.5 years of peaceful protest against violence, lawlessness, and state terror in Belarus. "While the resistance of millions of Belarusians continues underground in various creative forms, independent media are at the forefront of the struggle. Courageous journalists, bloggers, and influential media figures keep up working in the country and exile, despite severe repression and personal insecurity."

In the World Press Freedom Index, Belarus ranks 153 out of 180. In terms of the number of journalists in detention, it is one of the five countries with the worst situation in the world. Both rankings are based on the findings of Reporters Without Borders. In an interview with BAJ, Jeanne Cavelier, head of this NGO’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk, shared how the situation in Belarus is currently assessed.

In Belarus, Lukashenka’s regime continues persecuting independent media and silencing critical voices while at the same time attempting to renew the dialogue with the EU. On 20 April the editor-in-chief of Belarusian leading outlet was brutally detained by special forces. 26 journalists and media professionals remain behind bars.

“It’s Dasha’s birthday on the 20th, she will celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday. Such a beautiful date! Too bad it will be a day off. The day passed quickly at work and maybe it wasn’t so sad,” Dasha’s mother Natalya Tserabilenka told.