Belarus Europe’s largest prison for journalists – CoE report

March 5, Pozirk. More than 20 journalists were arrested in Belarus last year, says an annual report on press freedom in Europe released by the partner organizations of the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform.

About half have already been sentenced to prison on charges of violating public order, facilitating extremism, discrediting Belarus and association with a terrorist group, the report noted.

Belarus is Europe’s largest prison for journalists with 37 in late 2023, followed by Russia (27), Turkey (18), Russian-held territories of Ukraine (17) and Azerbaijan (15).

Arrested Belarusian media workers and their families often faced similar ordeals with sudden raids of their homes and the confiscation of equipment, the report said.

Belarusian authorities also filmed forced confessions and made lawyers sign non-disclosure agreements, while trials usually took place behind closed doors, followed by prison sentences or house arrests.

At least 400 independent Belarusian journalists have fled Belarus fearing politically-motivated persecution after 2020 postelection protests, the report said, citing the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Most of them relocated to Lithuania or Poland.

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