More than 60 media representatives were under criminal prosecution in Belarus in 2021, BAJ reports

February 2, BPN. In 2021, more than 60 media representatives were under criminal prosecution in Belarus, while 32 of them remained in custody as of late December 2021, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported in its annual monitoring report Media in Belarus. BAJ itself was liquidated by the decision of the Belarusian authorities, but continues to operate abroad.

According to the NGO experts, the work of independent journalists in Belarus was accompanied by detentions, searches with the seizure of equipment and media, and administrative sanctions. In 2021, BAJ recorded 113 detentions. In 29 cases, journalists were deprived of their liberty in the form of administrative detention.

In July alone, police and KGB officers conducted 75 searches in the homes of journalists and editorial offices of independent media outlets across the country. A total of 146 such searches took place during the year.

In 2021, four journalists were convicted in criminal cases. Kaciaryna Barysievič, a journalist for TUT.by Internet portal, was sentenced to six months in prison on the charges of disclosing medical secrets with grave consequences under the Article 178, part 3 of the Criminal Code. The journalist uncovered information about the death of peaceful protester Raman Bandarenka that contradicted the official version of his death.

Belsat TV channel journalists Kaciaryna Andrejeva and Darjia Čul’cova were sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly organizing actions that grossly violate public order (Article 342 of the Criminal Code): they were broadcasting live the violent dispersal of peaceful demonstrators on the “Square of Changes” (a residential courtyard on Čarviakova Street in Minsk, where Bandarenka lived).

Siarhiej Hardzievič, a reporter for the regional news website 1reg.by from Drahičyn, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for insulting Lukašenka, slander, and insulting a government representative.

Bloggers were also prosecuted. All of them were sentenced to imprisonment: Uladzimir Niaronski, Siarhiej Piatruchin, Aliaksandr Kabanaŭ, Vadzim Jermašuk to three years in prison, Paviel Spiryn to 4.5 years, Eduard Palčys to 13 years, Ihar Losik (Radio Liberty consultant) to 15 years.

BAJ observes that the pressure on the independent media and civil society increased in 2021. “The repression of non-state journalists and media outlets was systematic and aimed at the de facto destruction of the independent media sector,” the annual report states. As a result, many independent media outlets have been forced to relocate and to continue operating from abroad.

Several leading media outlets and their online communities were labelled as “extremist formations,” which entails criminal liability (Article 3611 of the Criminal Code provides for up to 10 years imprisonment for establishing an “extremist formation” and up to six years for participating in it). The Ministry of Internal Affairs recognized as an extremist formation and banned the activities of “a group of citizens united through the Belsat internet resources” as well as “a group of citizens united through Radio Svaboda internet resources,” while the KGB did the same for “a group of citizens from the BelaPAN news agency.”

During 2021, seven newspapers and one magazine ceased publication in print, while further eight newspapers have been out of print since 2020.