Belarus targets journalists and their families in new wave of repression

In recent weeks, Belaru­sian secu­ri­ty forces have inten­si­fied pres­sure on jour­nal­ists remain­ing in Belarus, as well as on the rel­a­tives of media work­ers forced into exile. The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists has record­ed a new wave of such repres­sions.

Pho­to: BAJ

In most cas­es, secu­ri­ty offi­cers have vis­it­ed the reg­is­tered address­es of inde­pen­dent jour­nal­ists who are cur­rent­ly work­ing abroad. In some instances, these vis­its includ­ed search­es of the premis­es in con­nec­tion with crim­i­nal cas­es opened against the jour­nal­ists.

Notably, the first wave of such pres­sure on jour­nal­ists’ fam­i­lies took place in the sum­mer of last year.

With the intro­duc­tion of in-absen­tia tri­als into the Belaru­sian Crim­i­nal Code, a large num­ber of media work­ers have become sub­jects of crim­i­nal inves­ti­ga­tions.

Last week, many Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists were also added to the Russ­ian pub­lic want­ed per­sons data­base at the request of the Belaru­sian author­i­ties.

40 media pro­fes­sion­als are cur­rent­ly behind bars in Belarus.