Swedish embassy calls for release of media manager Alaksandaraŭ

February 5, Pozirk. The Swedish embassy in Belarus has urged the Belarusian authorities to release media manager Andrej Alaksandraŭ.
“Solidarity is not a crime. Fundamental freedoms must be guaranteed,” the statement stressed.
Alaksandraŭ, a former BelaPAN deputy CEO, and his girlfriend Iryna Złobina were arrested on January 12, 2021. They married in September 2022 in custody and are allowed to keep in touch.
In October 2022, judge Viačasłaŭ Tulejka of the Minsk Regional Court sentenced Alaksandraŭ to 14 years in prison; Złobina, to nine years, on charges widely seen as politically motivated, including high treason, tax evasion and organizing actions grossly disturbing public order. Rights groups consider both political prisoners.
Alaksandraŭ is held at Penal Colony No 1 in Navapołack, Viciebsk region, and is currently working at the prison’s woodworking shop. A flu epidemic reportedly broke out there recently, with hundreds of inmates suffering from an acute respiratory viral infection.
The now-defunct BelaPAN media company that had employed Alaksandraŭ from 2014 to 2018 was branded an extremist group in Belarus in early November 2021.
Since then, authorities have blacklisted 24 media organizations and the Belarusian Association of Journalists as extremist groups.
- PoliticsReprisals: admin accused of filming Russian military hardwareThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityRussian-born Butraniec appointed as deputy chairman of State Border CommitteeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityLithuania, Latvia report a spike in irregular border crossing attemptsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarusian steelmaker scales back output to maintain profitabilityThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsBelarus' FM accuses the West of impeding development of other countriesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Economy
- EconomyBelarus to raise subsistence minimum budget on May 1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsOpposition politician slams prison sentences against Kalinoŭski fighters as revengeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyGovernment allows hunting bears, lynxesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityJournalists expose Belarusian company’s links with Russian defense industryThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsRights groups declare seven new political prisonersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: jailed activist Kaleśnikava turns 43The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityMinsk court sentences five Belarusian volunteer fighters to lengthy prison termsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyMore than 17,000 Belarusians visited Georgia in Q1The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityArmy battalion conducting offensive exercise near AsipovičyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsUN experts sound alarm over forced psychiatric treatment of Belarusian dissidentsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Economy
- PoliticsRights group reports raids in Dziaržynsk, exiled Belarusians targetedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsSikorski, Rubio discuss migration crisis at Polish-Belarusian borderThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: police punish criticism of Łukašenka’s policiesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCatholic priest free after reported April 23 arrestThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarus arrests French man on suspicion of hashish smugglingThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarus’ police arrest Catholic priest, evangelical pastorThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Belarus to build nuclear disposal site in Mahiloŭ region, Astraviec district or radiation-contaminated areaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus, Russia postpone common oil market until 2027The material is available only to POZIRK+