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Reuters
Women demonstrate in Minsk against police brutality after recent anti-government protests
The Belarusian authorities have withdrawn the accreditation of several journalists who have been reporting on the post-election protests there for foreign media.
Two journalists from the Russian BBC service are among those affected.
In a statement, the BBC said it condemned “in the strongest terms this stifling of independent journalism.”
New anti-government demonstrations broke out on Saturday.
Belarus is in the grip of massive protests, sparked by elections believed to have been rigged in favor of leader Alexander Lukashenko.
On Saturday, several thousand women, many of them dressed in national costumes, demonstrated in the capital Minsk, waving flags and flowers in what they called a “solidarity march”, urging Lukashenko and the government to resign.
Riot police were in force and made several arrests. Smaller demonstrations took place in other parts of Belarus, coming on the eve of what is expected to be another turbulent Sunday of post-election protests.
The BBC has urged the Belarusian authorities to allow access to its reporters.
“We believe that it is vital for the people of Belarus to have access to impartial and independent information about events in their country. BBC Russian, which reaches more than five million people a week, has been an important source of news for the inhabitants. from Belarus and Russia during the post-election riots, “he said.
Government spokesman Anatoly Glaz told AFP news agency that the action was taken following a recommendation from the country’s counterterrorism unit.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he condemned the move and had expressed his concerns to Belarusian officials.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry described the action against the journalists as a blatant attempt to suppress factual reporting.
At least 10 local journalists and several Russians lost their accreditation on Saturday, with Radio Liberty, AFP and Deutsche Welle among the other outlets affected.
The announcement came days after several journalists, including a BBC team, were detained in Minsk ahead of a protest.
The Interior Ministry said they had been taken to a police station to verify their identity. However, Steve Rosenberg of the BBC, who was among those arrested, said it was a “clear attempt to interfere with coverage of the events.”
What is the background?
The unrest in Belarus was sparked earlier this month by an election believed to have been rigged in favor of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.
The main opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, fled to Lithuania after the vote and has since called for protests.
The country has witnessed unprecedented opposition demonstrations and workers have gone on strike at major state-owned companies. Thousands of people have been arrested and there have been numerous reports of police brutality.
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At least four people have died and hundreds have been injured.
The European Union and the US are among those who rejected the elections as being neither free nor fair. The EU is preparing sanctions against officials it accuses of manipulating the result to win Lukashenko and cracking down on the opposition movement.
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