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Protests in Belarus: how Lukashenko systematically cracks down on the press
In Belarus, the regime is tightening the reins again. In addition to several hundred protesters, dozens of journalists have recently been arrested. The fight against the press is systematic in Lukashenko.
During the protests in Belarus, the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko is once again cracking down on protesters with great severity. After the uniformed officers had barely intervened until earlier this week, they arrested more than 250 people in Minsk and other cities on Thursday, the recordings show. It was the highest number in days.
Dozens of journalists were among the many arrested. According to the Union of Journalists of Belarus, around 50 journalists were in police custody over the weekend, most of them temporarily. Among them were also foreign journalists, including a correspondent for Deutsche Welle. A Swedish journalist was to be expelled this Friday.
Appearance with Kalashnikov: Alexander Lukashenko on August 23 in Minsk. Image: keystone
In recent weeks, media workers in Belarus had repeatedly denounced abuse and arrests. The Belarusian Journalists Association has documented 90 cases of repression against journalists in the last two weeks alone.
Those affected spoke of injuries from rubber bullets and blows by the police, being locked up for days without food, intentionally destroyed equipment and confiscated technology. Several dozen journalists were tried and some were sentenced to short prison terms.
Arrests and seized technology
Alexandra Boguslawskaja of Deutsche Welle was among the reporters arrested Thursday. According to the Interior Ministry, she was part of a group of journalists who were taken to a police station to verify press accreditation.
Boguslawskaya, who according to her announcer has a valid press card, later reported that she had been detained for several hours. People in civilian clothes wearing storm masks reportedly asked her and her colleagues to unlock their smartphones. Some of the reporters should have bowed to him and then left the station. But she refused.
Reporters from the BBC, Radio Free Liberty, the Belarusian portal tut.by and the Russian news platform Lenta.ru, which is critical of the government, as well as other local journalists, were also arrested.
Also on Saturday, officials from the financial investigation authorities removed the co-founder of the popular Kyky.org news site, Alexander Wasilewitsch, from his office and searched the editorial office of the media company. Since then, Vasilevich has been officially detained.
More on the situation in Belarus:
Lost four teeth and broke his nose
Jan Roman, who works for the Belsat television channel, had been worst affected. According to his employer, Roman was beaten and kicked in the face on August 11 by members of the OMON special unit. The reporter reportedly lost four teeth and suffered a broken nose and cheekbones.
According to the broadcaster, Belsat’s correspondent Alena Dubowik was detained for three days in a notorious remand in Minsk. There she was allegedly beaten and kicked by a guard several times. After she was discharged, she was taken to the hospital with severe abdominal pain.
The reports by Italian reporter Claudio Locatelli also made headlines. Locatelli said he was detained by police for several days without food. Thanks to the intervention of the Italian embassy in Minsk, the reporter was released. He then informed “Zeit” about the most brutal attacks by the security forces.
He and other colleagues were reportedly beaten with clubs when they were arrested. In prison, dozens of them were locked in cells and mistreated repeatedly. Locatelli said he shared the cell with people from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland or Switzerland, including journalists like him.
But it was particularly bad for the Belarusians: “Above all, I cannot forget a man. We heard him being beaten and yelled and yelled. Then he seemed to drown. I think he choked on his own blood. And then all we heard was that muffled sound. Boom Just Fell “.
The independent press is systematically suppressed
Human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced violence against reporters and protesters. In the middle of the month, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the European Union to punish those responsible for the brutal repression. “Such persecution of the media in Europe is totally unacceptable,” said Catherine Monnet, RSF’s deputy editor-in-chief. “We demand a strong condemnation of these obvious violations of the right to information.”
The Belarusian regime is considered the most repressive in all of Europe. According to RSF, journalists and bloggers in the country are being systematically threatened, news sites are blocked and information is suppressed. Television stations are completely under state control. Independent media workers are forced to report from abroad. The organization ranks Belarus 153rd on its press freedom index. No other country in Europe is ranked worse.
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