RSF advocates pressure on Łukašenka’s regime over media freedom abuses

December 1, BPN. The persecution of journalists in Belarus continues as authorities brand them extremists and terrorists, said Jeanne Cavelier, head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk at Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

She noted deterioration in freedom of speech across the entire Eastern Europe in her address to participants at a forum on free media co-hosted by the Lithuanian Seimas, Belarusian and Lithuanian associations of journalists.

It is crucial to keep up pressure on Alaksasndr Łukašenka’s regime to draw attention to human rights abuses in prisons and the persecution of journalists for their professional activities, Cavelier stressed.

Over 400 journalists left Belarus for fear of persecution in the last few years, while dozens are behind bars on changes widely seen as politically motivated.