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The court hearing will start at 10 a.m. in Minsk City Court. Judge Siarhei Katsar will preside over the case. Ihar Karnei is accused of participating in an extremist formation and faces up to six years of imprisonment.  

Wars are now fought live. Satellites record troop movements. Drone cameras see the enemy. Radars warn of another bomber takeoff. But the main nerve, terror, and sometimes joy are still captured by journalists. Photos from Bucha, Kherson, and Dnipro often say more than thousands of texts. A photo exhibition organized by BAJ and the Lithuanian Union of Journalists opened in Vilnius on the anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Andrei Aleksandrovich, chief editor of the Belorusy i Rynok newspaper and a journalist who joined the media force at the beginning of the formation of the new independent Belarusian journalism, died prematurely in Warsaw at the age of 49.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has sent the criminal case of Pavel Marynich, the head of Malanka Media, for trial. Pavel Liber, the creator of the digital platform ‘New Belarus,’ politician Aliaksandr Dabravolski, and Alena Zhyvahlod, the head of the initiative ‘Honest People,’ are also being investigated as part of this case. The defendants are accused of obstructing the work of the Central Election Commission and the Referendum Commission.

On February 24, the exhibition Ukraine: Journalists in the War Zone will open at the Vilnius train station. It will showcase the work of reporters during Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine and pay tribute to colleagues who lost their lives covering the war.

On February 15, the Belarusian human rights community issued a statement recognizing freelance videographer Yauhen Hlushkou as a political prisoner.

According to Mayday.Team, a Mahilou-based human rights group, Hlushkou is accused of being involved in an extremist formation.

On February 8, former political prisoner and journalist from Drahichyn Siarhei Hardziyevich was released from the temporary detention center after serving a 15-day administrative detention sentence for distributing extremist products.

Last week, many Belarusians living in Lithuania were disturbed by the column written by journalist Rimas Bružas. Among other things, the author intended to show that Belarusian migrants who ‘bring along a stinking snake of disrespect towards our [Lithuanian] way of life’ are not welcome in the country. The text only presented a few facts, but one figure was easily verifiable. Journalist Siarhei Tsverdzichau questions certain claims from the high-profile story through a research.

№1 (75) 2024. Download PDF.

“My journalistic activity is connected with the portals 6tv.by and Mogilev.media, where I told about the events in Mogilev region and had an author's video column. In addition, I was the editor of the independent small-circulation newspaper “Stariy Zamok” in Bykhov“, writes Sergei Antonov.

Judge Zhanna Brysina of the Minsk City Court found Aliaksandr Ziankou guilty of participating in an extremist formation. The trial began on January 12, and three court hearings were held. On January 30, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.

The reason for his arrest on January 24 and his sentence have been revealed. On January 26, Judge Yulia Kuksa heard Siarhei Hardziyevich’s case in Drahichyn District Court.

Given the significant role of "anti-extremism policy" in shaping the media landscape in Belarus, this report aims to analyse the legal regulation of combating extremism and its current application concerning independent media and their representatives. The starting point for this analysis is the international standards of human rights and freedoms, which serve as the key benchmark for any democratic state under any circumstances. Download the file in PDF format.

Hardziyevich was detained on 24 January and is accused of distributing, producing, and storing information products that contain calls to conduct extremist activity. No further details are available at this time.