Statements by BAJ and partners

Statement by a Human Rights Coalition on the Arbitrary Invalidation of Passports of Citizens of the Republic of Belarus

In light of emerg­ing reports that the author­i­ties have arbi­trar­i­ly declared invalid the pass­ports of for­mer polit­i­cal pris­on­ers who were forcibly expelled from Belarus after their release in Sep­tem­ber and Decem­ber 2025, we, a coali­tion of Belaru­sian human rights orga­ni­za­tions, state the fol­low­ing:

10.04.2026

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