Archive

Euronews TV channel will stop broadcasting in Belarus, according to the website of the Ministry of Information. It will be replaced with a Russian channel Pobeda.

Hrodna journalist Dzianis Ivashyn has been kept behind bars since March 12, 2021. He was grabbed by police on the street near his block when walking to a pharmacy to pick up medicines.

The founder of the press club Yulia Slutskaia, who is now in custody in pre-trial prison # 1 in Minsk, passes information through her daughter Alyaksandra about life in the prison cell.

On April 7, the Amnesty International organisation published its 2020/2021 report on the state of the human rights in the world; it covers 149 countries and delivers a comprehensive analysis of human rights trends globally in 2020.

On Tuesday, security forces raided the flat of Current Time reporter Raman Vasyukoich. The search warramt was issued by the prosecutor’s office as part of the investigation into a case under Art. 130 (‘Incitement to racial, national, religious or social hatred’) of the Criminal Code.

The exhibition “A machine is breathing, but I can’t”, dedicated to Belarusian healthcare workers, has been cancelled. The project team announced this after both organizers of the exhibition were arrested and taken to a temporary detention centre on Okrestin Street in Minsk.

TUT.BY received a draft law on potential amendments to the laws on the media. It is proposed to block internet resources for information aimed “at promoting extremist activity” and materials that may “lead to the emergence of threats to national security.” 

"Interdepartmental commission concluded that the information published in the Novy Chas newspaper (#3 of 2021/01/22 and # 4 of 2021/01/29) is detrimental to the national interests of the Republic of Belarus. The Ministry of Information requires the newspaper to correct the violations in the next issue and to inform the Ministry about that.

Journalist Pavel Mazheika was released from the detention center today, as the police decided that "grounds for his detention disappeared".

Deutsche Welle correspondent Nicholas Connolly was detained during the coverage of the protest action on Bangalore Square in Minsk on March 27. He presented a German passport, his official accreditation and the inscription “Press” on his vest, the media reports, but was still detained.

Belarusian authorities have escalated repression against independent journalists in the past five months, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities have arbitrarily detained and beaten journalists, imposed fines and prison sentences on politically motivated charges, revoked their media credentials, and raided their homes and offices.  

In the morning the police came with a search warrant to the home of journalist Andrzej Paczobut, his wife Aksana managed to report. The search is done as part of a criminal case under Art. 130 ( "Incitement of hatred").

Leaders of 50 journalists’ unions and associations in 34 European countries today called on their governments to intensify pressure and take action in the face of constant violations of human rights and press freedom in Belarus. In a joint letter, they urge their head of government to demand from the Belarusian authorities the immediate release of the 12 imprisoned journalists and the withdrawal of administrative and criminal proceedings against Belarusian journalists.

Hrodna journalist Dzyanis Ivashin was detained on March 12. His latest article for "Novy Chas" was about former Ukrainian Berkut employees successfully got a job in the Belarusian police. He is also a journalist and editor of the Belarusian service of the InformNapalm website.