Accents
Cameraman Uladzimir Luniou: ‘I didn’t belive we would get out of there alive’
A cameraman Uladzimir Luniou was filming peaceful protest actions in Minsk. On August 10, he was besieged by police near the ‘Pushkinskaya’ metro station. He was detained at about 11.30 pm, despite wearing a vest with the word “Press” and trying to explain that he was an independent journalist. According to the reporter, he was kept 'in inhumane conditions' in custody for 34 hours. He was released later, but his personal belongings were not returned to him. Moreover, he had to visit the detention center again, in order to get his passport back. The court ruling of August 21 has not been sent to him yet.
Declaring war on the truth: the crackdown on independent media in Belarus
Belarusian journalists have long worked under extremely difficult conditions and have had to contend with limited access to information and the severe curtailment of freedom of speech. Volha Siakhovich looks at the latest media crackdown sparked by the recent presidential election and at how journalists have responded to the government’s actions.
Riot policeman deliberately shoots at Nasha Niva journalist Natalia Lubneuskaya from 10 meters VIDEO
Nasha Niva journalist Natalia Lubneuskaya was injured by a rubber bullet on August 10.
“I will murder you. I can do it today.” Journalists from Babruysk Clobbered and Tortured
Representatives of law-enforcement agencies brutally detained four independent journalists in Babruysk (Mahilou region) on August 10, 2020. Three of them were detained next to the local pretrial detention center, where the relatives of the previously locked up Babruysk dwellers gathered and waited for court decisions. The fourth journalist was taken into custody at his wife’s work place.
Journalist Ivan Murauyou talks about his three days in detention
Today at 6.37 a.m. Ivan had tears of joy in his eyes, walking into his apartment building 21 Bedy Street after his release from Akrestsina detention center.
Journalist Tatsiana Belashova: Akrestsina is a manmade hell
In the evening of May 10, Alena Shcharbinskaya, I, and another dozen people were loaded into a police van near Centralny police department, where we searched for information about our detained family members. Of course, the police did not explain, why they detained us.
Independent media advocate and journalist tell of challenges covering Belarus’s upcoming elections and coronavirus
As Belarus’s August 9, 2020, presidential election nears with President Aleksandr Lukashenko vying to remain in power after 26 years in office, press freedom advocates say Belarusian authorities are cracking down on journalists and government critics.
Amnesty International: Bloggers and activists arrested in purge ahead of the presidential election must be released
Responding to the news that at least three more prominent Belarusian bloggers — Ihar Losik, Syarhei Pyatrukhin and Syarhei Sparish— were arrested on Thursday, as part of a crackdown ahead of the presidential election on 9 August, Aisha Jung, Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner on Belarus, said:
RSF calls for EU pressure after wave of arrests of journalists in Belarus
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the arrests of many journalists in the past days in Belarus, as the authorities try by every possible means to stop them covering rallies in support of opposition candidates in the upcoming presidential election. The European Union must press the government to stop the harassment, RSF said.