Imprisoned Belarusian journalists honored at Tutaka Festival

A sol­i­dar­i­ty action was held at the Tuta­ka Fes­ti­val in sup­port of impris­oned jour­nal­ist Ihar Ilyash, who marked his birth­day behind bars on July 18, and in sup­port of oth­er impris­oned jour­nal­ists in Belarus.

Sol­i­dar­i­ty action with impris­oned Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists at the Tuta­ka Fes­ti­val, July 18, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

The Tuta­ka Fes­ti­val of the Awak­ened runs from July 16 to 19 in the Boryk for­est area near Białys­tok. Fes­ti­val guests took part in the sol­i­dar­i­ty action, among them jour­nal­ists, activists, and rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the pro-democ­ra­cy move­ment, includ­ing the leader of Belarus’s demo­c­ra­t­ic forces, Svi­at­lana Tsikhanouskaya.

Svi­at­lana Tsikhanouskaya hold­ing a por­trait of impris­oned jour­nal­ist Ihar Ilyash at the Tuta­ka Fes­ti­val, July 18, 2026. Pho­to: BAJ

Ihar Ilyash, hus­band of promi­nent Belaru­sian jour­nal­ist and for­mer polit­i­cal pris­on­er Kat­siary­na Andreye­va, has been held behind bars since 2024. It is known that he has been sub­ject­ed to pres­sure while in deten­tion, and the polit­i­cal pris­on­er’s health has dete­ri­o­rat­ed.

On Ihar Ilyash’s birth­day, Svi­at­lana Tsikhanouskaya pub­lished a state­ment on X demand­ing the jour­nal­ist’s release.

BAJ con­tin­ues its Sol­i­dar­i­ty Marathon with col­leagues behind bars. At present, 21 media rep­re­sen­ta­tives are impris­oned in Belarus.