The situation for journalists in Belarus is worsening by the year
An annual report titled “Press Freedom in Europe: Time to Change the Situation” produced by the Platform for the Promotion of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, has highlighted severe repression facing independent media and journalists in Belarus.
The report, which covers 46 Council of Europe member countries and includes Belarus and Russia, underscores the challenges journalists are experiencing, especially those in forced emigration.
Belarus: increasing repression for independent journalists
Established by the Council of Europe in 2015, the Platform aims to fortify the organisation’s response to threats against journalistic safety and media freedom. This year, the report observes an alarming increase in physical assaults on journalists, particularly in conflict-affected regions like Ukraine, where 19 incidents were reported in the past year due to Russia’s ongoing military actions. Georgia also reported eight assaults within the context of protests.
In the context of Belarus, the report reveals that repression has continued unabated since the protests of 2020. As of the end of 2023, at least 37 journalists were incarcerated for their work, with numbers projected to reach 40 by March 2025, as per the Belarusian Association of Journalists. “In 2023, more than 20 Belarusian journalists were arrested, half of whom have already been sentenced to prison for various charges,” the report states. These charges range from supporting extremist activities to participating in terrorist organisations.
The report details that journalists and their families in Belarus are subjected to home searches and confiscation of professional equipment, which endangers the confidentiality of their sources. Coercive tactics, such as pressuring individuals to make “confessions” on camera, have been noted, alongside trials held behind closed doors that restrict free expression post-verdict.
The media landscape in Belarus has deteriorated significantly, with even state-affiliated media not immune to scrutiny. The report outlines that, “Self-censorship no longer protects journalists,” as the definition of “extremist content” continues to expand, leading to increased government control over media narratives.
Authoritarian
Recent amendments to the Belarusian law “On Mass Media,” adopted in July 2023, have further entrenched this control. The law grants the Ministry of Information authority to prohibit foreign media operations and expand the grounds to block news websites. This legislation has led to the classification of independent entities as “extremist.”
According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, around 400 independent journalists have fled Belarus since the protests, driven by threats of persecution. The report cautions that those in exile may risk losing their citizenship if convicted on anti-state charges. Concurrently, some host nations that have welcomed these exiled journalists are tightening their immigration and residency policies, creating additional pressure on these individuals.
A survey referenced in the report, comprising 212 Russian and Belarusian media workers, indicated that 60% received some form of assistance from governmental or non-governmental organisations following their relocation. Nevertheless, 40% did not acquire any support. The primary concerns expressed by journalists in exile include the need for financial aid, legal guidance, professional development opportunities, and mental health support.
This report serves to illustrate the dire situation facing independent media and journalism in Belarus amidst an oppressive political climate, emphasising the need for continued attention to press freedom issues in the region.
Featured image via the Canary
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ANOTHER CIA cut-out ‘article’, Canary?
“the report observes an alarming increase in physical assaults on journalists, particularly in conflict-affected regions like Ukraine, where 19 incidents were reported in the past year due to Russia’s ongoing military actions.”
Are you f/king shitting me? The country has closed all Opposition news outlets, hounded, imprisoned, assassinated and ‘sent-to-the-front-lines’ (IE killed) every critical journalist the regime could get its hands on, and you’re blaming RUSSIA for this? FFS. For shame.
As for Belarus, perhaps this slipped past your CIA handed reports, but USAID and NED attempted to sponsor yet another ‘colour Revolution’ there a couple of years ago, to turn Belarus into the NEXT Ukraine once Ukraine runs out of warm bodies.
In case you hadn’t got the memo, a “Colour Revolution” is where a hostile foreign power subverts your sovereignty, overthrows your legitimate govt, brings the worst elements of your society to power, and then uses you for its own nefarious geopolitical ends.
Think of your least liked foreign country, Would YOU like that country to do this to YOUR country?
No? And what measures would you take to prevent such an profoundly anti-democratic regime-change? If some of the media was promoting the EDL as respectable, or the NF, with the view to putting them into political power once they helped overthrow the Govt, you’d be A-OK with that? F’Rage and the Brexshit campaign/party was heavily funded by US dark money, Peter Thiel in particular. Just think of the damage THAT alone caused to the UK.
Belarus has its own problems, as every ‘state’ will and does. The Canary promoting one-sided, USAID funded regime-change propaganda REALLY sticks in the craw.
Belarus still has its state-owned industries, their version of the NHS, and a respectable welfare state NOT privatised. What do you think the first thing would happen to Belarus if your favoured Regime-Change went through? TBH, I doubt you even care. None of you give even the flying-shit towards the people of Belarus to spend even 20mins looking into the situation there. The Canary just took the money for publishing this, and asked no questions.
Perhaps, just PERHAPS, if you went back to your roots, and started doing proper Journalism again, with a real progressive agenda, rather than this current warmed-over neoliberal yellow ‘CIA stenographer’ non-journalism, you’d have more readers, and more subscribers to keep you going.
Bring back whatsherface, she may have ripped you off, but at least she had a VISION, ffs. Right now, the Canary is simply not worth the time.