News on the topic: mass media
18.02.2021 Belsat TV journalists sentenced to 2 years in prison
Katsiaryna Bakhvalava (Andreyeva) and Darya Chultsova, journalists working with the Belsat TV channel, were sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment in a general-security penitentiary each, after Judhe Natallia Buhuk of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk found them today guilty of involvement in “group actions gravely breaching public order” (Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code).
31.12.2020 Press Club leaders charged in ‘tax evasion’ case
Yuliya Slutskaya, founder of Press Club Belarus, was formally charged under Part 2 of Article 243 (tax evasion on an especially large scale), euroradio.fm said. She will remain in custody until at least February 22.
08.12.2020 Belarus Escalates Crackdown on Independent Journalism
Online News Outlet TUT.BY Stripped of Media Credentials
25.11.2020 HRDs call to release journalists held on criminal charges
Joint statement by Belarusian human rights organizations on the criminal cases of journalists Katsiaryna Barysevich, Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova
21.11.2020 BAJ demands immediate release of TUT.BY reporter Katsiaryna Barysevich
The Belarusian Association of Journalists believes that instead of looking for the real perpetrators of the murder, the investigators persecute those who are trying to find out the truth about the circumstances of Raman Bandarenka's death.
12.10.2020 Stop pressure on the press!
Statement by Belarusian Association of Journalists, Press Club, and United Media Association
23.09.2020 Nasha Niva editor held on libel charges
Yahor Martsinovich, editor-in-chief of Nasha Niva, a popular online news site, was detained this morning by Belarusian security officers. His apartment was searched by the Interior Ministry’s Directorate of Internal Security.
30.08.2020 Wall of silence in Belarus: massive withdrawal of press accreditations
After the arbitrary detention of about 50 journalists on Thursday, the Belarusian authorities are stepping up the withdrawal of press accreditations for journalists covering the country’s news for foreign media. A wall of silence is gradually isolating Belarus from the rest of the world. The EFJ condemns the inaction and wait-and-see attitude of the international community.
24.08.2020 BAJ demands to unblock websites, stop pressure on media, and ensure release of publications
On Friday evening it was reported that the Ministry of Information had restricted access of Belarusian users to websites of a large number of media and political movements. Most well-known of them are Radio Svaboda, Belsat TV, Euroradio, Solidarity newspaper, Udf.by, The Village, By.tribuna.com, Vitebsk Courier, People's News of Vitebsk, Masheka.by, and the website of the Human rights center Viasna.
13.08.2020 Amnesty International: Belarus: Attacks on journalists mount amid protest crackdown
The Belarusian authorities must immediately end their assault on journalists, Amnesty International said on 12 August, amid reports of journalists being arrested, beaten, and targeted with rubber bullets while covering the vicious police crackdown on protests. Media workers have also had their cameras smashed and their footage deleted.
29.07.2020 Petitioners, journalists detained near KGB building in Minsk
A group of reporters were briefly detained by the police yesterday afternoon, July 29, after they arrived to the KGB headquarters in central Minsk to cover the filing of petitions requesting the release of arrested presidential nominee Viktar Babaryka, baj.by said. The police also detained some 40 people who came to file petitions.
20.07.2020 Beaten and fined: over 40 journalists detained in 2 months of Belarusian protests
Over 40 representatives of the press have been detained when covering peaceful protests in the last two months, tut.by said. Some of them were beaten, while a few were convicted of “illegal protesting” and “resisting arrest”.
06.05.2020 Officials hold back COVID-19 facts from media and the public
The state propaganda accuses its private counterparts of misinformation and escalation, and the authorities threaten reporters with penalties. Meanwhile, officials have built a ‘wall of silence’ to suppress information about the COVID-19 crisis, Belarusian Association of Journalists said.
03.04.2020 Position of human rights organizations on the arrest and detention of Siarhei Satsuk
On March 25, Siarhei Satsuk, journalist and chief editor of the Internet daily “Ezhednevnik”, was arrested in Minsk. He was remanded in custody on March 26. On March 26 and 27, searches were carried out at Ezhednevnik’s office and in Satsuk’s apartment; office equipment and documents were seized.
01.04.2020 Civil society alarmed by lack of reliable information on COVID-19 outbreak in Belarus
The Belarusian Association of Journalists has called on the government to provide full, accurate and regular updates on the current situation with the coronavirus disease, as lack of information has led many to believe the country’s authorities are downplaying the spread of the infection.
