News

The deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists will be interrogated at the Central Office of the Investigative Committee as a witness in a criminal case on March 24.

Journalist Dzianis Ivashyn was detained in his apartment at about 6 p.m. Before that, a blue minivan parked near the apartment block. The search of journalist Dzianis Ivashin ended late at night, Dzianis was placed in the KGB detention center. Now there are 10 journalists  behind bars in Belarus.

Nasha Niva’s photographer Nadezhda Buzhan became one of the finalists of the 2021 World Press Photo international photo contest. Her photo shows Olga Severinets waiting for her husband, politician Pavel Severinets, outside a notorious detention centre on Okrestin Street.

On March 2, at 16.00, Maskouski district court of Minsk announced the verdict to TUT.BY journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich and BSMP emergency hospital doctor Artsiom Sarokin. They are accused of disclosing medical secrets, which, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, entailed serious consequences. It is not known what punishment the prosecutor requested: the trial was closed for public. The court pronounced a guilty verdict for both the doctor and the journalist. Katsiaryna Barysevich was sentenced to six months in a penal colony and a fine of 100 basic units, and Artsiom Sarokin to two years in prison suspended for a year and a fine of 50 basic units. He was released in the courtroom. According to Katsiaryna Barysevich's lawyers, in view of the time that she spent in the pre-trial detention center, she will be released in a little more than two months.

In response to today’s sentencing of Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich to six months in jail and a fine over her coverage of protests in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

On February 19, Access Now, Agora, Article 19, Human Constanta, International Media Support and Internet Protection Society raised serious concerns about the escalating human rights situation in Belarus, submitting detailed information to Anaïs Marin, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus. The groups focused on internet shutdowns and website blocking, and the use of anti-extremism laws against civil society and the opposition — both of which are being initiated by authorities in the context of a larger endeavor to stifle freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Belarus.