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Statement of the Steering Committee on the occasion of the Annual Assembly of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum on ensuring the rights of citizens and the threat of loss of sovereignty of the Republic of Belarus

Following the parliamentary elections in Belarus in November, the Representation of Sweden to the EU hosted a meeting on 21 November with experts from Belarus and representatives of the EU Member States and institutions. The aim was to get an update on the impressions of how the elections were implemented and the situation for journalists.

On November 28 Belarusian Association of Journalists  presented its final report of monitoring the media coverage of the parliamentary elections in 2019.

The report summarises the findings of the monitoring of the 2019 parliamentary election coverage in Belarusian media.

On November 21, journalist Uladzimir Chudzyantsou was removed from a train at the Belarusian-Polish border. The authorities claim that Belarusian border guards found 0.87 grams of marijuana in his personal belongings. Moreover, a search was conducted in his flat and ‘some two packages’ were reportedly seized, the journalist’s mother said.

Minsk 21 October 2019 The Coordination Committee of The BNP EaP CSF, in which more than 80 civil society organisations are included based on:

Reporters were not allowed to shoot or were put in conditions which made it impossible to work. Here are some facts from the recent election coverage.

Fundamental freedoms were disregarded and the integrity of the election process was not adequately safeguarded in the early parliamentary elections in Belarus even as the number of registered candidates increased, international observers concluded in a preliminary statement published today

On November 14, the Belarusian Association of Journalists presented the second stage of its Monitoring of the Media Coverage of the Parliamentary Elections-2019.

Situation in Mass Media Field in July – September 2019. The situation in the Belarusian mass media field has remained calm on the eve of Parliamentary elections, which were scheduled for November 17, 2019.  However, at least two journalists faced personal threats, which lacked investigation within the reporting period. After more than a three-month-long pause there were registered new cases of persecution of freelance journalists for their cooperation with foreign media. Claims were filed against several online media outlets to protect the honor and dignity of  certain officials, but the cases are expected to be considered in court in November 2019.

November 12 Minsk district court considered a defamation action brought by the chairman of the Slonim district executive committee Henadz Khomich against Stsiapan Putsila, owner of Nexta channel in Telegram.

Bialynichy District Court imposed a penalty on Mahiliou journalist Darya Chultsova  for a video story about the newly appointed Belarus' chief ideologist Andrei Kuntsevych that she had allegedly made for Belsat TV channel.

Election commissions have already removed four candidates of the “European Belarus” campaign from the elections. But the candidates filed complaints to the Minsk City Commission”, Yauhen Afnahel, coordinator of the civil campaign, told Belsat.

The address of Homiel activist Uladzimir Niapomniashchykh, who had previously been registered as a candidate in the parliamentary elections, was removed from TV air, the UCP reports.