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Raman Pratasevich, a former editor of an opposition Telegram channel who was handed a prison term earlier this month after the commercial flight he was on was forced to land in Minsk in 2021, told journalists on May 22 that he had received a pardon.

21 May: PEN International, the literary and free expression organisation, has released a letter signed by 103 Nobel Laureates, expressing solidarity with writer, human rights defender, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and PEN member Ales Bialiatski, and condemning the Belarusian authorities’ brutal, relentless, and systematic crackdown on independent voices. Today marks the International Day of Solidarity with Prisoners of Conscience in Belarus. The solidarity action was featured in the Guardian.

Viasna human rights center has designated May 21 as a Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus. On this day two years ago, political prisoner Vitold Ashurak died in the Škloŭ penal colony No. 17. No criminal proceedings have been initiated following his death, while the situation with political prisoners has significantly deteriorated. Last year, the Day of Political Prisoners theme was the yellow tag used in colonies to mark inmates. It was Ashurak who first talked about it in his letter. This year human rights defenders propose to make the theme of the Day of Solidarity with political prisoners in Belarus letters and the right to correspondence, which the Belarusian authorities have deprived hundreds of political prisoners. Viasna calls on people to express solidarity with all political prisoners on May 21, draw the attention of the Belarusian and international community to their problems, and once again demand the release of all political prisoners from the authorities. The Belarusian Association of Journalists joins the events! The authorities are trying to destroy independent journalism in Belarus. Support the Solidarity Marathon!

The participants of the conference of the European Federation of Journalists joined the marathon of solidarity with Belarusian colleagues, which was launched by the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Lithuanian Union of Journalists in Vilnius.  

Owning a bank account in Ukraine as a Belarusian journalist is still problematic. After the war started, they were frozen, and attempts to withdraw cash were mostly unsuccessful, said journalist Ales Minau, who has been living in Kyiv since late 2021.