European Parliament recognizes BAJ efforts to help release Siarhei Satsuk

Due to Covid-19 pan­dem­ic, many activ­i­ties of the SAKHAROV PRIZE COMMUNITY were post­poned. EP ple­nary ses­sions are now held vir­tu­al­ly and in a short­ened for­mat.  How­ev­er, the EP con­tin­ues to mon­i­tor close­ly and speak up against human rights vio­la­tions around the world. The newslet­ter points out efforts by dif­fer­ent orga­ni­za­tions and indi­vid­u­als who are engaged in the defense of human rights.

In par­tic­u­lar, the efforts of the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists. We have con­sis­tent­ly advo­cat­ed for the release of the out­stand­ing Belaru­sian jour­nal­ist Siarhei Sat­suk and car­ried out a large-scale advo­ca­cy cam­paign.

Ten days after Sat­suk’s arrest, the Pros­e­cu­tor Gen­er­al of Belarus revoked the deci­sion to take EJ.BY chief edi­tor into cus­tody. How­ev­er, Mr Sat­suk remains a sus­pect in the case. He also had to sign a non-dis­clo­sure state­ment. The indict­ment against Sat­suk was nev­er brought.

In Decem­ber 2004, the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment award­ed BAJ the Sakharov Prize for Free­dom of Thought.