Archive

BAJ member, Hrodna journalist  Viktar Parfionenka has just been denied accreditation by the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs, again.  This was his eleventh attempt as a reporter of the Belarusian Radio Racyja to get official permission to work.

Pavel Sharoyko, convicted of espionage in Belarus, has just been pardoned and released. The President of Ukraine Volodymir Zelensky spread the news during the 2nd Forum of Regions of Belarus and Ukraine in Zhytomyr.

Last week the National Center for Contemporary Arts opened an exhibition of five local artists. One of them – Alexey Kuzmich – came to the opening in a raincoat on a naked body.

Head of Slonim Executive Committee Henadz Khomich sued a number of publications that republished the posting of blogger Stsiapan Putsila (aka NEXTA). NEXTA's Telegramm channel posted that the local top official, as well as his wife a bit later, had been caught drunk driving. Officially, the information has not been confirmed.

In a new report, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) named Turkmenistan, Iran, and Belarus as being among the ten worst countries for press censorship.

Chair of the Central Election Commission wants only the MFA-accredited foreign press and Belarus' "central" media to have access to the CEC press center.

The authorities have resumed pressure on freelance journalists cooperating with Belsat. Mahiliou journalist is charged with making a video for Belsat about the newly appointed chief ideologist Andrei Kuntsevych.

Belarusian Association of Journalists awarded an Honorary Diploma for outstanding work for the benefit of freedom of speech and professional journalism to Iosif Siaredzich, the founder and editor in chief of Narodnaya Volya.

SITUATION IN MASS MEDIA FIELD IN JANUARY – JUNE 2019 The general situation in the Belarusian mass media field was controversial in the first half-year 2019. On the one hand, it was influenced by the overwhelming trend of reinforcing governmental control over the media space. On the other hand, due to hosting the 2nd European Games, the official authorities were pushed towards greater openness of the country. A complicated foreign policy and economic situation in Belarus, including negotiation processes with the European Union and the United States, the increasing size of external debt and pressure on the part of Russia as well as the approaching elections to the Belarusian parliament (scheduled for November 17, 2019) should be taken into account, too. 

Opening the conference on combating terrorism, Alexander Lukashenka proposed creating an "information neighborhood belt" to ensure non-interference of countries in their neighbors' information assets.

On the third anniversary of the murder of the prominent journalist, colleagues and family visited his grave at the Paunochnya Cemetery in Minsk.

The European Union and the Republic of Belarus held the 6th round of the bilateral Human Rights Dialogue on 18 June 2019 in Brussels.

Once again, a major sports event is met with criticism for being placed in a semi-authoritarian regime with bad human rights records. The EOC vice president defends the decision of awarding the European Games to Minsk but is ready to discuss how to implement broader human rights demands for countries hosting Olympic events.

A document that was allegedly sent to Svetlahorsk district collective farms and enterprises has been brought to Belsat TV attention.

Lawyers of the Belarusian Association of Journalists prepared a reminder memo of what a foreign journalist needs to know coming to the 2nd European Games in Belarus. It covers: