{"id":49721,"date":"2023-11-16T20:34:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T17:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=49721"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"rights-groups-declare-former-reporter-political-prisoner","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/49721\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights groups declare former reporter political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>November 16, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian human rights groups have declared former journalist Andrej To\u0142\u010dyn a political prisoner, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\u0142\u010dyn is charged with undermining national security, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). He may face up to six years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Activists reported To\u0142\u010dyn&#8217;s arrest on September 27. Law enforcers raided his home and confiscated a computer and other equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\u0142\u010dyn, the founder of the Homiel newspaper <em>Homielskija Viedama\u015bci<\/em>, cooperated with several other media outlets and was arrested on multiple occasions while doing his journalistic work. He left the profession after the 2020 protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/tolchin-06-e1700150864666.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n      <div class=\"block-image__descr\">\n\n        Andrej To\u0142\u010dyn\n    <\/div>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(BAJ.by)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The human rights groups said in a statement that &#8220;proceedings against Andrej To\u0142\u010dyn continue the government&#8217;s targeted policy of limiting uncensored information in the country and supressing freedom of expression.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The statement calls on the government to immediately stop the reprisals and free all political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It statement was signed by Viasna, the BAJ, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the Zvozka\u016d Belarusian Human Rights House, Belarusian PEN, Lawtrend, and Human Constanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the BAJ, authorities are holding 33 members of the media behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human rights defenders say there are at least 1,451 political prisoners in the country, while opposition politicians say the real number is even higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 16, Pozirk. Belarusian human rights groups have declared former journalist Andrej To\u0142\u010dyn a political prisoner, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. To\u0142\u010dyn is charged with undermining national security, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). He may face up to six years in prison. Activists reported To\u0142\u010dyn&#8217;s arrest on September 27. Law enforcers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":49691,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-49721","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rights groups declare former reporter political prisoner | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"November 16, Pozirk. 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