News

In the morning the police came with a search warrant to the home of journalist Andrzej Paczobut, his wife Aksana managed to report. The search is done as part of a criminal case under Art. 130 ( "Incitement of hatred").

Hrodna journalist Dzyanis Ivashin was detained on March 12. His latest article for "Novy Chas" was about former Ukrainian Berkut employees successfully got a job in the Belarusian police. He is also a journalist and editor of the Belarusian service of the InformNapalm website.

On Monday, March 22, Masty reporter of Hazeta Slonimskaya Yazep Palubiatka was summoned for questioning by the police. He entered the police station at 11 a.m. He did not return home that day.

Bastunets was questioned as a witness on the morning of March 16, again. After that some of the seized items were returned.  "They returned only some of the documents — those that were in the safe box, including employment records, and statutory documents," -- Bastunets said.

On the morning of March 17 Hrodna police arrested journalist Yan Roman, near his home. The police "examined" his apartment and seized his phone and laptop. In the afternoon the police came with "inspection" to the home of journalist Ales Dzianisau.

Detained on Friday, March 12, journalist Dzianis Ivashyn was charged today under Article 365 of the Criminal Code ( "Interference with the activities of a law-enforcement officer").

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.

As of March 11, Ihar Bancer [Igor Bantser] has been on a dry hunger strike for eight days. Ihar announced the hunger strike at a court session on March 3 expressing his protest and disagreement with the accusations of Hooliganism that he is facing and that he calls unfair. Ihar has been in prison since October 20, 2020. The musician's relatives and friends believe that one of his unrelated street performances could have been the likely reason for his arrest.

Belarus’ human rights situation has deteriorated further in recent weeks. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) believes this deterioration should be viewed in the context of the grave and systemic human rights violations the authorities committed in the run-up to the 2020 fraudulent presidential election and in its aftermath, for which there has been no accountability. The EFJ joins Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights and Article19 in demanding action by the UN Human Rights Council to establish a new mechanism assisting the process of accountability for human rights violations in Belarus.