Australian TV journalist joins Solidarity Marathon in support of Andrzej Poczobut

“Andrzej Poc­zobut is one of 33 jour­nal­ists cur­rent­ly behind bars in Belarus, a Putin-backed dic­ta­tor­ship in the cen­ter of Europe,” Steve Can­nаnе wrote on Twit­ter (X). “He has been sen­tenced to 8 years in prison. Sup­port the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists!”

More than 28 thou­sand peo­ple fol­low the journalist’s account. He used to be a TV reporter and pre­sent­ed and an inves­tiga­tive jour­nal­ist.

The jour­nal­ist is well-informed about the Belaru­sian sit­u­a­tion. In April 2023 he trav­eled to Vil­nius to meet with Belaru­sian politi­cians and jour­nal­ists. Lat­er he pub­lished a report in which he remind­ed that Belarus is con­sid­ered the most dan­ger­ous coun­try in Europe for media work­ers.

In the pub­li­ca­tion, Steve Can­nаnе quotes the sto­ry of Hrod­na jour­nal­ist Iry­na Novik, who expe­ri­enced first-hand what it is like to be per­se­cut­ed by the author­i­ties.

The Marathon of Sol­i­dar­i­ty with impris­oned Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists began in Vil­nius on May 3 with a joint effort between the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists and the Union of Jour­nal­ists of Lithua­nia.

Pre­vi­ous­ly, orga­ni­za­tions and foun­da­tions from Ger­many, Swe­den, Fin­land, Den­mark, and oth­er coun­tries have also par­tic­i­pat­ed in the action. Indi­vid­u­als, such as the US direc­tor Ernie Bar­barash, also took part.

BAJ calls on jour­nal­ists around the world to sup­port the sol­i­dar­i­ty action! You can print por­traits of impris­oned Belaru­sian media work­ers, take pic­tures with them in out­stand­ing places in your city (not in Belarus) and post them on social media using the hash­tags #СвабодуЖурналістам and #BecauseThe­Jour­nal­ist. Don’t for­get to send them to office@baj.media or intercomm@baj.media.

#СвабодуЖурналістам

#BecauseThe­Jour­nal­ist

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