Staff members of the Belarusian political weekly newspaper Novy Chas were searched by the authorities, temporarily detained and interrogated on 19 and 20 October. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined their affiliate, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), in calling on the authorities to stop persecuting journalists and media outlets in the country. On 20 October in the morning, Novy Chas employees could not be reached, before BAJ later reported that journalists’ homes and the editorial offices were being searched. Novy Chas editor-in-chief Aksana Kolb and deputy editor Siarhei Pulsha were interrogated and later released. On 19 October, the house of Novy Chas photographer Dzmitry Dzmitryjeu was searched and all his equipment confiscated. According to Novy…

On 5 October 2021, a new law went into effect in Armenia, raising the maximum threshold for “insults” and “defamation” fines by three times their previous amount. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined their affiliate the Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA) in denouncing this law and its impact on the right of freedom of expression. The defamation law was adopted by the National Assembly in March 2021 after a Facebook user posted a comment regarded as offensive on a picture of the Prime Minister. The law was validated by the Constitutional…