05 Feb 21 | Belarus, News and features, Statements
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116175″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus on 7 February, the undersigned organisations working in the field of freedom of expression and media freedom call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and media workers who continue to be arbitrarily detained.
Nearly six months since President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in what has been widely acknowledged and condemned as a fraudulent election, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya remains in exile and thousands of protesters continue to take to the streets of Minsk calling for his resignation.
The regime has made every effort to prevent its citizens from accessing independent information. News outlets have had their publishing licences revoked. Some have their equipment seized. Independent newspapers are banned from printing and barred from sales through the national state monopolist retailer.
As part of this effort, the authorities have also used violence, threats, and arbitrary detention to intimidate journalists and prevent them from doing their jobs. Reporters and photographers wearing press vests have been deliberately targeted by law enforcement. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), journalists were detained 480 times in 2020. They have spent over 1,200 days behind bars, often without being told what, if any, charges they face.
At least ten journalists and media workers remain in detention, among them are several of our friends and colleagues. They are: Katsiaryna Barysevich, Daria Chultsova, Yulia Slutskaya, Alla Sharko, Siarhei Alsheuski, Petr Slutski, Ksenia Lutskina, Andrei Aliaksandrau, and Aliaksandr Mikrukou.
As the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus approaches, we are calling for each and every journalist and media worker to be immediately and unconditionally released. We condemn the blatant violations to their human rights and once again remind the Belarusian authorities of their obligations under international law.
Signed:
Jessica Ní Mhainín, Senior Policy Research and Advocacy Officer, Index on Censorship
Dave Elseroad, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Maria Ordzhonikidze, Director, Justice for Journalists Foundation
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19
Laurens Hueting, Advocacy Officer, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk, Secretary General, International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC)
Marcin Lewicki, President, Press Club Polska
Daniela Kraus, General Secretary, Presseclub Concordia, Vienna
Andrei Bastunets, Chairperson, Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)
Peter Spiegel, Press Freedom Committee Chair, Overseas Press Club of America (OPC)
Board of Frankfurter Presseclub
Board of Press Club Brussels Europe
Pierre Ruetschi, Executive Director, Geneva Press Club
Ryszard Bankowicz, President, Polish Club of International Columnists
S Venkat Narayan, President, FCC of South Asia, New Delhi, India
Uri Dromi, Director General, Jerusalem Press Club[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 Jan 21 | Belarus, Media Freedom, Opinion, Ruth's blog
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Last week one of our former colleagues and correspondents – Andrei Aliaksandrau – was detained in Belarus. Our friend, colleague and human rights defender is now being arbitrarily held for defending the right to free expression.
Our team is anxious for news and, honestly, even though we report on and cover attacks on journalists every day and campaign for people to be released from prison, we still feel impotent about what we can do to help.
Andrei and his partner, Irina Zlobina, are expected to be charged with “education or other preparation of persons for participation in group actions that grossly violate public order, as well as financing or other material support of such activities”.
Under Lukashenko’s regime these charges could result in a two-year sentence. Two years in prison for supporting people’s peaceful right to assembly. Two years’ detention for demanding free and fair elections. Two years for standing up for free speech. Their lawyer has been forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so we are struggling to get information about their wellbeing and future legal sanctions.
As upset as we are, Andrei’s case wasn’t the most unsettling part of the week.
Andrei and Irina are just two of the 187 people that the Viasna human rights center identify as political prisoners – journalists, activists and citizens who have been arrested and detained by Lukashenko’s regime. Their collective ‘crimes’ are being brave enough to keep fighting against tyranny and to stand up for both what is right and their human rights.
Statistics can be shocking – 187 prisoners of conscience logged with the EU. But behind every statistic there is a person, a family, a story, a life. Andrei is a friend to many of the Index family so we know he was a Liverpool fan. We know that he likes malt whisky and when in London a visit to the Betsey Trotwood pub. We know he loves dogs. We know that because we know him.
And we know that Andrei wouldn’t want us to forget about the others that have also been arrested. He wouldn’t want us to stop exposing the actions of Lukashenko. He wouldn’t want us to be silent. So, for him, for Irina and the hundreds of other people currently detained in Belarus we will keep using our voices to fight for their freedom, while they cannot.
Index was established to be a voice for the persecuted – our friend is being persecuted and we will make sure his voice is heard – together.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”You may also want to read” category_id=”41669″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
16 Jan 21 | Belarus, Media Freedom, News and features
Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab MP
First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Dear Foreign Secretary,
Earlier this week, one of Index on Censorship’s friends and former colleague, journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau, was detained in Minsk along with his partner, Irina Zlobina. We are extremely alarmed at the news of their detention. Both have been held incommunicado in a Minsk jail since their detention on Tuesday 12 January.
Aliaksandrau is a long-standing champion of media freedom, having sought to uphold this fundamental right as a journalist, and through his work at the London-based freedom of expression organisations, Index on Censorship and Article 19. We are concerned to learn that he is being detained as a suspect in a criminal public order case instituted by the Minsk Department of the Investigative Committee.
On 14 January, police raided the offices of the independent BelaPAN news agency claiming they were looking for evidence related to the criminal case against Aliaksandrau. Aliaksandrau is no longer a BelaPAN staff member, having left his post as deputy director in 2018. Nonetheless, several pieces of equipment were confiscated from BelaPAN’s offices, including personal computers. BelaPAN is the oldest non-governmental independent Belarusian news agency. These combined actions are a direct breach of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As the UK continues to proudly champion media freedom through its media freedom campaign, Index on Censorship calls on the British government to immediately intervene with the Government of Belarus to secure the release of Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina. We are concerned that the decision to detain them may be part of a fresh effort to repress the key defenders of the right to media freedom and freedom of expression aimed at quashing the months of protests that have besieged President Lukashenka’s regime.
According to the Belarus Association of Journalists, journalists were detained 479 times in Belarus in 2020. We cannot allow this pattern of repression to continue in 2021.
We urge you to do everything in your power to see to the release of Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina, and to ensure that no one else is imprisoned for exercising and defending their fundamental rights.
We thank you in advance for taking our concerns into consideration and look forward to your response.
Yours faithfully,
Ruth Smeeth
Index on Censorship
[This letter has been updated with new facts on dates of detention]
16 Jan 21 | Belarus, Media Freedom, News and features
Dear HE Ambassador Yermalovich,
Index on Censorship expresses our alarm at the detention in Belarus of our friend and former colleague, journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau. As you will be aware Aliaksandrau was detained along with his partner, Irina Zlobina, in Minsk on Tuesday 12 January 2021. We understand that they are both being held incommunicado in a Minsk jail.
Aliaksandrau is a long-standing champion of media freedom, having sought to uphold this fundamental right as a journalist, and through his work at freedom of expression NGOs including both Index on Censorship and Article 19. We are extremely concerned to learn that he is being detained as a suspect in a criminal public order case instituted by the Minsk Department of the Investigative Committee.
On 14 January, police raided the offices of the independent BelaPAN news agency claiming they were looking for evidence related to the criminal case against Aliaksandrau. Aliaksandrau is no longer a BelaPAN staff member, having left his post as deputy director in 2018. Nonetheless, several pieces of equipment were confiscated from BelaPAN’s offices, including personal computers.
Index on Censorship condemns in the strongest terms the detention of our former colleague and his partner. We call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release them and unconditionally drop all charges against them. Moreover, we condemn the subsequent raid on BelaPAN’s office and remind the Belarusian authorities that repressive measures taken as a reaction to the voicing of critical opinions about the government are incompatible with the right to freedom of expression and a clear violation of Belarus’ obligations under international law.
We urge your government to exercise restraint and to cease all further interference with the core human rights of those who are peacefully and legitimately exercising their right to freedom of expression. We call on you to release everyone, including Andrei Aliaksandrau and Irina Zlobina, who are imprisoned for their defence of that right.
Yours faithfully,
Ruth Smeeth
Index on Censorship
[This letter has been updated with new facts on dates of detention]
