Statements by BAJ and partners

Statement on the Systemic Persecution in the Book Sector and the Designation of Literary Organisations as “Extremist Formations”

PEN Belarus, along with the human rights and cul­tur­al com­mu­ni­ty, strong­ly con­demns the cur­rent large-scale repres­sion tar­get­ing inde­pen­dent pub­lish­ers, book dis­trib­u­tors, and cul­tur­al organ­i­sa­tions in Belarus. These actions clear­ly aim to dis­man­tle the Belaru­sian pub­lish­ing infra­struc­ture and crim­i­nalise legit­i­mate cul­tur­al activ­i­ties.

19.03.2026

IPI: Repression accelerates as five more journalists sentenced to prison

The IPI glob­al net­work today con­demns the accel­er­a­tion of repres­sion against inde­pen­dent media in Belarus after five more jour­nal­ists were sen­tenced to prison on polit­i­cal­ly moti­vat­ed charges in just over one week.

10.03.2026

Six journalists sentenced in one week as Belarus tightens media stranglehold. BAJ calls for maximum international attention

In recent days, sev­er­al jour­nal­ists in Belarus have been sen­tenced to impris­on­ment. The ver­dicts in cas­es against jour­nal­ists are shock­ing: 9, 12, and 14 years in prison.

09.03.2026

CPJ: Belarusian authorities should immediately release journalists Uladzimir Yanukevich and Andrei Pakalenka

Belaru­sian court sen­tences 2 jour­nal­ists to 14, 12 years in prison, heavy fines. Belaru­sian author­i­ties should imme­di­ate­ly release jour­nal­ists Uladz­imir Yanuke­vich and Andrei Pakalen­ka, and stop jail­ing jour­nal­ists for their work, said the Com­mit­tee to Pro­tect Jour­nal­ists. 

04.03.2026

February 24: BAJ expresses solidarity and support for Ukrainian colleagues

Rus­si­a’s full-scale war against Ukraine has been ongo­ing for four years. Accord­ing to BAJ part­ners at the Nation­al Union of Jour­nal­ists of Ukraine (NUJU), since the start of the full-scale inva­sion, Russ­ian aggres­sors have killed at least 144 media work­ers.

24.02.2026

Statement on recognition of Yanina Pazniak as a political prisoner

Joint state­ment by the Belaru­sian human rights com­mu­ni­ty.

27.01.2026

BAJ Board concludes review and issues decision regarding deputy chair Barys Haretski

On Decem­ber 23, the BAJ Board dis­cussed the con­clu­sion of an exter­nal expert and made a deci­sion in con­nec­tion with alle­ga­tions against BAJ Deputy Chair Barys Haret­s­ki regard­ing pos­si­ble harass­ment.

24.12.2025

BAJ hails prisoner releases, urges freedom for those still jailed

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists wel­comes the release of polit­i­cal pris­on­ers but stress­es that many jour­nal­ists and media work­ers remain unjust­ly impris­oned.

14.12.2025

Aleh Supruniuk and Pavel Dabravolski recognized as political prisoners

On August 26, 2025, Belaru­sian human rights orga­ni­za­tions issued a joint state­ment regard­ing jour­nal­ists Aleh Supruniuk and Pavel Dabravol­s­ki, who are behind bars in Belarus.

26.08.2025

Appeal for Support in Preserving the Belarusian-Language Version of LSM+

Chair­per­son of the Human Rights and Pub­lic Affairs Com­mit­tee of the Saeima Chair­per­son of the Board of Direc­tors of “Latvi­jas Sabiedriskais medi­js” To the Coun­cil of Pub­lic Elec­tron­ic Media of the Repub­lic of Latvia (SEPLPz Saeimas Cil­vēk­tiesību un sabiedrisko lietu komisi­ja   Appeal for Sup­port in Pre­serv­ing the Belaru­sian-Lan­guage Ver­sion of LSM+ as a Key Tool […]

21.08.2025

IFJ demands an end to the criminalization of journalism in Belarus

The Inter­na­tion­al Fed­er­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists (IFJ) joins its affil­i­ate, the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists’ (BAJ), in call­ing for the imme­di­ate release of all jour­nal­ists and media work­ers unjust­ly impris­oned. The IFJ demands that the author­i­ties cease the crim­i­nal­i­sa­tion of jour­nal­ism, as well as the harass­ment of jour­nal­ists in Belarus, in exile and their fam­i­ly mem­bers.

11.08.2025

Statement on recognition of Aleh Khamenka as a political prisoner

The human rights defend­ers of Belarus made a state­ment on July 9.

09.07.2025

Belarus: Free Belarusian journalists and media workers NOW!

The Exec­u­tive Com­mit­tee of the Inter­na­tion­al Fed­er­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists (IFJ) con­ven­ing in Mon­tre­al on 10 and 11 June 2025, demands the release of all Belaru­sian jailed jour­nal­ists and media work­ers.

12.06.2025

IFEX calls on the Venezuelan government to immediately release Eduardo Torres

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists joined an open let­ter from inter­na­tion­al orga­ni­za­tions demand­ing the release of the Venezue­lan human rights defend­er.

09.06.2025

Urgent Motion. On the need to release all journalists from prison in Belarus

The Gen­er­al Meet­ing of the Euro­pean Fed­er­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists (EFJ), meet­ing in Budapest, Hun­gary, on 2–3 June, 2025, notes that on May 28 a new  wave of per­se­cu­tion tar­get­ed the few remain­ing pri­vate media out­lets still oper­at­ing in Belaru­sian regions. Sev­er­al media out­lets, includ­ing Vech­erny Bobruisk, babruisk.info, Vol­na­je Hly­boka­je (and its web­site vglybokaye.by), and UzHo­rak, […]

09.06.2025