Updated: August 30, 2020 10:48:20 pm
Riot police block protesters at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus, on August 27 (Photo: AP).
With thousands of anti-government Protesters stormed the streets of Belarus For the third week in a row to demand the resignation of its long-time authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian authorities have launched a harsh crackdown on journalists covering the crisis.
Protests broke out across the country after Lukashenko returned to power in early August, in what is seen as a rigged election. The demonstrations became more heated after several opposition leaders, including the main opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, were forced to leave the country and many others jailed.
In recent weeks, nearly 50 journalists from around the world have been detained by police authorities in riot gear and detained. Several of these were forced to hand over their documents, cell phones and hard drives to government officials.
International news agency Associated Press he has said that two of his Moscow-based reporters covering the demonstrations in Belarus have been deported to Russia. Two other reporters working for the German broadcaster ARD they have also been asked to leave the country, Al Jazeera reported. Paul Hansen, a Swedish photojournalist, was given 24 hours to leave the country and was told he would not be able to return for the next five years. The Guardian reported.
Additionally, Belarusian officials recently informed at least 19 journalists, including the two AP reporters, that their press credentials had been revoked.
Why is the government cracking down on the media?
Faced with the anger of its own citizens and growing international condemnation, the Belarusian leadership is working overtime to keep the media in check.
When asked why the authorities had revoked the media accreditation of so many journalists, government spokesman Anatoly Glaz told AFP that the decision was made on the advice of the country’s counterterrorism unit.
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In July, President Lukashenko had threatened to deport foreign journalists, accusing them of instigating dissent and protest across the country just before the vote, which took place on August 9.
According to a DW report, media representatives have said the recent string of arrests was likely sparked by news of a new round of protests scheduled for this weekend.
Steve Rosenberg, a reporter for BBC Moscow, who was detained while reporting in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, said his arrest was a clear “attempt to interfere with coverage of the events in Belarus.” In a tweet, he said he had been held in a police station for two hours while his documents were being reviewed.
Tonight we were arrested by the police in the center of Minsk, held in a police station for two hours for “document checks”. The same happened to many other journalists. A clear attempt to interfere with the coverage of events in #Belorussia
– Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) August 27, 2020
Several prominent media organizations, including the BBC and the AP, have urged authorities to allow journalists to do their jobs.
The protests in Belarus
The widespread protests in Belarus were sparked by the re-election of its leader Lukashenko, who has served as president for more than 26 years. According to the country’s electoral commission, Lukashenko obtained 80% of the votes in the August 9 poll.
A day later, the streets of Belarus were invaded by thousands of protesters, who accused the 65-year-old leader of committing vote rigging fraud and demanded new elections.
In July, President Lukashenko had threatened to deport foreign journalists, accusing them of instigating dissent and protest at the national level just before the vote, which took place on August 9 (Photo: AP).
In a video shared on YouTube, Lukashenko’s main competitor, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, revealed that she had fled to Lithuania after facing threats from the country’s leaders. “God forbid you face the kind of choice that I faced,” he said. “Children are the most important thing in our lives,” a shocked Tikhanovskaya said in the video, according to a BBC report.
To contain the crowd of protesters that had gathered across the country, the Belarusian authorities deployed large numbers of law enforcement officers. Reports of police brutality soon emerged. At least four people died and thousands were arrested in the following weeks.
Several countries, including the United States, have rejected the results of the elections in Belarus. The European Union has also announced that it will impose sanctions on top Belarusian officials for alleged vote rigging and violence against protesters.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, an ally of Lukashenko, has said he has formed a reserve police force to intervene if the situation “gets out of control” in the country.
Is this the first time that the Belarusian authorities have launched such an attack on journalists?
No, the Belarusian government is known to have also detained journalists with little explanation in the past. In fact, just before the 2020 elections, the government began modifying laws to impose new restrictions on the media.
In 2018, at least 19 independent journalists were arrested after an investigative committee accused them of illegally accessing and using information from the state news agency BeITA, the Washington Post reported. Several of the detained journalists were forced to sign confidentiality agreements before being released.
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Even in 2010, when Lukashenko returned to power in another contested election, protests broke out across the country and the government arrested thousands, including journalists.
Reporters Without Borders Belarus ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in its 2020 Press Freedom Index.
How have world leaders reacted?
Several world leaders have condemned the actions of the Belarusian authorities against journalists. In a tweet on Saturday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab accused authorities of targeting BBC news and other foreign media organizations by canceling their accreditation to report in the country.
“The Belarusian authorities continue to target BBC News, local and international media by canceling their accreditation to report in Belarus. This has been raised with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I condemn these clear attacks on press freedom, “Raab’s tweet read.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry has also criticized the government’s actions, describing them as a clear attempt to suppress media freedom and non-judgmental information. BBC reported.
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