Accents
Integrity. Strength. Yulia VIDEO
OSCE Media Freedom Representative meets with representatives of the BAJ and editors of independent media
Repression and resistance in Belarus: A monthly chronology
“Everything was done to paralyze the work of the organization”
The President of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Andrei Bastunets and his Vice-presidents Aleh Aheyeu and Barys Haretski described how they were searched and what the organization is doing now.
Early in the morning of 16 February, security forces raided the homes of heads of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)- a registered non-governmental public organization that protects the rights of the journalists. The association’s office was also searched. Later it is revealed that other raids were conducted against human rights defenders, journalists and activists almost throughout the country. The Investigation Committee reported that the procedure was initiated “to establish the circumstances of funding for the protest activities”.
Today BAJ works under extremely difficult conditions: the office was sealed, the bank account was arrested, equipment, financial documents and a seal were seized.
The material was prepared within the framework of the Press Club Belarus project "Press under the press", which contains evidence of repressions against independent media and journalists in Belarus.
Belarus: Prosecution of journalists for “organising violations of public order” infringes international human rights standards
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.
Why are three Belarusian journalists in jail and what punishment do they face?
On Human Rights Day, NGOs call for accountability and an end to the crackdown in Belarus
In light of recent findings on Belarus by both the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, organisations express concern about ongoing abuses carried out by agents and supporters of the government of President Alexander Lukashenko and call for immediate investigations and redress.
RSF’s 15 recommendations for ending the four-month-old crackdown on press freedom in Belarus
BAJ wins the first Canada-UK Media Freedom Award. Andrei Bastunets’ speech
Wife of political prisoner Ihar Losik: “They organized a torture chamber for my husband”
ANDREI BASTUNETS: Today, the law does not defend us
Cameraman Uladzimir Luniou: ‘I didn’t belive we would get out of there alive’
A cameraman Uladzimir Luniou was filming peaceful protest actions in Minsk. On August 10, he was besieged by police near the ‘Pushkinskaya’ metro station. He was detained at about 11.30 pm, despite wearing a vest with the word “Press” and trying to explain that he was an independent journalist.
According to the reporter, he was kept 'in inhumane conditions' in custody for 34 hours. He was released later, but his personal belongings were not returned to him. Moreover, he had to visit the detention center again, in order to get his passport back. The court ruling of August 21 has not been sent to him yet.
Declaring war on the truth: the crackdown on independent media in Belarus
Riot policeman deliberately shoots at Nasha Niva journalist Natalia Lubneuskaya from 10 meters VIDEO
“I will murder you. I can do it today.” Journalists from Babruysk Clobbered and Tortured
Representatives of law-enforcement agencies brutally detained four independent journalists in Babruysk (Mahilou region) on August 10, 2020.
Three of them were detained next to the local pretrial detention center, where the relatives of the previously locked up Babruysk dwellers gathered and waited for court decisions.
The fourth journalist was taken into custody at his wife’s work place.
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