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On 14 May, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Minsk begins to consider the “case of students” who were detained last November and accused of organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order. There are 12 accused in total: ten students from different Minsk universities, a medical graduate and a teacher at BSUIR. For more than six months they have been in jail. By the beginning of the first session, more than a hundred people had come to the courthouse, but only some of them managed to get inside. Journalists of independent media and even some relatives of the accused had to wait outside. Police asked the crowd to disperse, after which the arrests took place.

On Thursday. freelance photographer Tatsyana Kapitonava was detained at Startup Family coworking in Minsk, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reports.

The Mahiliou journalists reporting on the trial of opposition activists Seviarynets, Afnahel and others to remain in jail until their own hearing.

Intex-press, Baranavichy independent newspaper continues to experience pressure after publishing an interview with former presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

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"There is nothing impossible for her" — a story about the founder of the Press Club, Yulia Slutskaya. Four months after the Belarusian presidential elections, the founder of Press Club Belarus, Yulia Slutskaya, and three members of her team —  Financial Director Sergei Olshevsky, Programme Director Alla Sharko and Yulia's son Photographer Pyotr Slutsky — were arrested on charges of tax evasion and have been remanded in prison in Minsk since December 22, 2020.

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. This is an occasion to reflect on the fundamental human rights and freedoms, to remind the authorities of the need to respect the freedom of the press, which comes from one of the basic, natural freedoms —  freedom of speech. Unfortunately, last year the situation in the media sphere has deteriorated significantly in Belarus. 

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.

Following the pledge of the Baranovichi inter-district prosecutor's office, an interview with former presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanovskaya and its video published by Intex-press were recognized as extremist materials.

The reason is an interview with Sviatlana Tikhanouskaya.

The Bonavero Institute and UNESCO are delighted to announce a joint MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on international standards of freedom of expression. The MOOC will cover regional and international human rights law safeguards for freedom of expression, including press freedom, access to public information, safety of journalists and challenges created by the digital world. The course is free and open to legal professionals from all justice systems with an interest in human rights.

On 20 April, the Minsk City Court considered the appeal against the sentence of TUT.BY journalist Katerina Borisevich. On 2 March, the Moskovsky District Court sentenced our colleague to six months in prison. The prosecutor’s office considered this decision too lenient and filed a protest. Katerina Borisevich’s defense still believes that she is innocent and insists on acquittal.

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which evaluates the press freedom situation in 180 countries and territories annually, shows that Belarus (down 5 at 158th) has confirmed its status as Europe’s most dangerous country for journalists. “The Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region held onto its second-to-last position in the regional rankings, in part because of events in Belarus (down 5 at 158th), where journalists were subjected to an unprecedented crackdown in an attempt to cover up the massive street protests in response to the contested presidential election result,” the report reads.

The Congress was attended by about 60 delegates, and guests. The Congress discussed the BAJ activities over the past three years and elected BAJ governing bodies: Chairperson, 4 deputy chairs, the Board and the Council.  11th BAJ Congress / Minsk, BIG PHOTO REPORT