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BAJ describes forced expulsion of journalists from Belarus as kidnapping
July 28, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities forcibly removed 192 people, including 14 journalists, from the country last year following talks between Minsk and Washington, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said in a recent report, arguing that the practice amounted to kidnapping under Belarusian law.
Journalists Andrej Kuźniečyk, Ihar Karniej, Iryna Slaŭnikava, Mikałaj Dziadok, Pavieł Mažejka, Alaksandar Mancevič, Larysa Ščyrakova, Jaŭhien Mierkis, Alena Cimaščuk, Viačasłaŭ Łazaraŭ, Pavieł Padabied, Ihar Łosik, Maryna Zołatava, Alaksanadar Fiaduta, as well as bloggers Dźmitryj Kazłoŭ and Pavieł Vinahradaŭ were forced to leave Belarus in 2025.
This year, Kaciaryna Bachvałava (Andrejeva) and blogger Eduard Palčys were also taken out of Belarus after Alaksandar Lukašenka’s meeting with US diplomats.
Each of the journalists forced to leave Belarus had the status of a designated political prisoner, “reflecting a heightened level of vulnerability resulting from years of arbitrary detention, during which they were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment,” the BAJ said. Some journalists and bloggers have been taken out of Belarus without their passports or had their IDs annulled.
“Their forced expulsion thus constituted a further punishment for their professional activities, extending the pattern of persecution beyond detention itself,” the report reads. “Many journalists have explicitly stated that they had not intended to leave Belarus following their release and expressed a clear desire to return to their home country.”
The BAJ described the expulsion of imprisoned journalists and bloggers as an international crime, arguing that it amounted to crimes against humanity, such as deportation and persecution, under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.
“Even if the release of journalists pursued a humanitarian objective, their expulsion cannot be justified on humanitarian grounds and remains impermissible under international law,” the report stressed, urging the democratic states to investigate these violations.
Journalist Karniej recounts mistreatment of political prisoners
July 14, Pozirk. Journalist Ihar Karniej, who was recently released from prison following a meeting between Alaksandar Łukašenka and US diplomats, revealed in a YouTube interview that people who had sent him parcels while he was incarcerated were later prosecuted …
