On August 27, the Supreme Court of Belarus liquidated the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an internationally respected press freedom and journalists’ rights organization. The IPI global network today condemned this politically motivated decision and calls for an immediate end to the systematic oppression of independent journalism and freedom of expression in Belarus. The justice […]

The IPI global network welcomed the release of several staff members of Press Club Belarus after more than eight months behind bars. Yuliya Slutskaya, the founder of Press Club Belarus; the organization’s director, Syarhei Alsheuski; programming director Ala Sharko; and cameraman Pyotr Slutski were released from pre-trial detention on August 19. Press Club Belarus said […]

This week, on August 18, Belarusian authorities raided the offices of the independent news agency independent BelaPAN and the homes of several of its staff members. The agency’s editor-in-chief, Iryna Leushyna; accountant Katsyaryna Boyeva; and former director Dzmitry Navazhylau were detained under suspicion of violating public order. As disturbing as these arrests are, they are […]

We, the undersigned organisations, firmly condemn the Belarusian government’s rapidly escalating crackdown on Belarusian civil society and its increasingly brazen abuses of the Belarusian people’s right to freedom of expression and information. We further call on officials of the European Union, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the United Nations […]