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Belarus, shaken by weeks of protests against its authoritarian president and Western condemnation of its crackdown on dissent, on Friday annulled the accreditation of all journalists working for foreign media outlets and said they must apply for new credentials in a process that could take a week or more. plus.
The action was the latest by Belarusian authorities against journalists and media outlets amid the wave of large protests that have occurred almost daily since the country’s authoritarian president won a sixth term in disputed August 9 elections.
“In the current situation, we are forced to exercise our sovereign right and apply the necessary protective measures, including in the form of new provisions of the regulations,” the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement announcing the measure.
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The ministry said journalists working for foreign media can apply for new credentials as of Monday; requests for temporary accreditation will be considered within five days and permanent accreditation within 30 days.
The biggest protests against President Alexander Lukashenko have taken place on Sundays.
Earlier this week, Belarusian authorities suspended the credentials of the popular independent news website tut.by, which has widely covered the protests, for three months.
Some accredited foreign journalists were deported in August, including two from The Associated Press, and the credentials of two Belarusian nationals working for AP were revoked.
The protests, which have drawn up to 200,000 people in the capital, Minsk, and sizable crowds in other cities, began on August 9 after an election that officials said gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote. Opponents and some poll workers have said the results were rigged.
Since the presidential campaign began in Belarus this year, 207 journalists have been detained, according to the Belarusian Journalists Association. Eleven journalists are currently behind bars, sentenced to between three and 15 days in jail on charges of participating in unauthorized protests.
“The authorities want to prevent journalists inside and outside the country from reporting on protests that have not subsided in two months,” said Boris Goretsky, vice president of the journalists’ association.
