European Federation of Journalists

European Federation of Journalists

Belarus: at least 40 journalists detained on Sunday

Picture credit: Stringer / AFP.
  •    News
  •   11-10-2020

Belarusian riot police detained dozens of protesters in several cities on Sunday as thousands rallied for the ninth consecutive Sunday rally against the fraudulent election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. At least 40 journalists were detained in Belarus on Sunday. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) demands sanctions against those who try to censor mass protests by arresting journalists.

According to the reports of the Belarusain Association of Journalists (BAJ), the EFJ affiliate in Belarus, Belarusian security forces detained journalists just before people gathered in the streets. BAJ registered 40 cases of detention of journalists in Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Gomel and Brest.

  • Natallia Fedosenko (TASS) was detained twice and released without any reports;
  • Gavriil Hryhorau (TASS) was detained twice and released without any reports;
  • Valery Stepchankau (TASS) was detained twice and released without any reports;
  • Sergey Satsyuk (BelaPAN);
  • Tatiana Karaviankova (BelaPAN);
  • Elena Talkachova (BelaPAN and Tut.by);
  • Yuri Shamshur (TASS);
  • Dmitry Dmitriev (“New Time”);
  • Nasta Boyka (“Belarusians and the Market”);
  • Alexey Ivashkevich (“Belarusians and the market”);
  • Zmitser Mickiewicz;
  • Svyatoslav Zorki (“Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi”) was released without a report after some time;
  • Ales Dobysh (“Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi”) was released after some time without a report;
  • Alexander Ruzhechko (Onliner.by);
  • Alexander Vladyka (Onliner.by);
  • Alexey Nosov (Onliner.by);
  • Irena Katselovich (“Nasha Niva”);
  • Nadezhda Buzhan (“Nasha Niva”);
  • Egor Martinovich (“Nasha Niva”);
  • Viktar Talochka (“Sputnik”) was released after some time without a report;
  • Anna Koltygina (Tut.by) – released after some time without a report;
  • Ramil Nasibulin (BelTA) was released without a report after some time;
  • Andrei Pakumeika (BelTA) was released after some time without a report;
  • Oksana Manchuk (BelTA) was released after some time without a report;
  • Sergey Paposhchitat was released after some time without a report;
  • Olga Kamyagina (TUT.BY and Narodnaya Volya) was released without a report after some time;
  • Maryna Kharevich (BelaPAN) was released after some time without a report;
  • Siarhei Lyudkevich (BelaPAN) was released after some time without a report;
  • Daria Spevak (Onliner.by) was released after some time without a report;
  • Alena Kavalchuk (hrodna.life) was released after 5 hours of detention; her camera and phone were confiscated;
  • Zmitser Kazakevich (Belsat);
  • Vyacheslav Lazarov (Belsat);
  • Tatsiana Matveeva (Tut.by, BelaPAN) was released after some time without a report;
  • Ales Piletski (Tut.by, Narodnaya Volya) was released after a while without a report;
  • Siarhei Serabro (People’s News of Vitsebsk) was released without a report after some time;
  • Ales Asiptsou (BelaPAN);
  • Angelica Zaitseva (TUT.BY and Narodnaya Volya);
  • Alena Germanovich (BelaPAN) was released after a while without a report;
  • Alena Bychkova (Tut.by and Narodnaya Volya) was released after a while without a report;
  • Pavel Mickiewicz (“Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi”) was released after some time without a report;
  • Milan Kharitonov;
  • Ales Liauchuk.

Since the 9 August fraudulent election, 277 detentions of journalists have been reported by BAJ. “Eight journalists are still in prison, including our colleague Larysa Shchyrakova, who is in custody pending trial for so-called participation to an unauthorized protest,” said EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez. “This parody of justice must end. The international community must step up sanctions. We once again call on the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union to react to the intensification of repression in Belarus!”