Accents

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), Teresa Ribeiro, met online today with representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and editors of several independent media outlets to discuss the current state of freedom of expression and media freedom in Belarus.

A monthly chronology of repression and resistance in Belarus, based on the work of IFEX members and other international and domestic actors.

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.

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.

The wife of political prisoner Ihar Losik told the media about the conditions of her husband's incarceration in Zhodzina jail. Daria Losik is sure that the jail administration is deliberately creating unbearable conditions for Ihar in the hope to break him and make him incriminate himself and other people. RFE/RL published a video with Daria's story in its Telegram channel.