New York, April 26, 2006—Belarusian authorities in the capital, Minsk, and at the Poland-Belarus border crossing Kuznica Bialostocka-Bruzgi denied entry to two crews from the Polish public television channel Telewizja Polska on Tuesday, the broadcaster reported. Both crews were headed to Minsk to cover opposition rallies marking the 20th anniversary of the April 1986 nuclear…
New York, April 19, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned an attempt by authorities in the Belarusian capital Minsk to close the weekly Nasha Niva, one of the country’s last independent newspapers. Local and international media reported that city officials informed Editor-in-chief Andrei Dynko that they did not want his paper based in Minsk…
New York, March 28, 2006—More than two dozen domestic and foreign journalists are now jailed in Belarus in connection with a tumultuous presidential campaign that included a deeply flawed March 19 vote and ensuing antigovernment protests, according to records compiled by the Belarusian Association of Journalists and other local press groups. On Monday, Canadian Foreign…
New York, March 27, 2006—A prominent Russian journalist was detained and beaten by police, another Russian journalist was expelled, and at least six Belarusian and international journalists were handed jail sentences as Belarusian authorities continued to crack down on journalists covering the aftermath of the flawed March 19 presidential vote. Five plainclothes officers pushed Pavel…
New York, March 24, 2006—Riot police in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, detained at least nine journalists as they stormed an encampment of 200 or more opposition protesters in October Square early today, according to local and international press reports. Police barred other journalists from filming or taking pictures of the assault, which led to the…
New York, March 21, 2006—Unidentified assailants beat a reporter for the Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes as he was completing coverage of a post-election opposition rally in downtown Minsk Sunday night, The Associated Press reported. The attackers broke Jan Rybar’s nose, leaving him with a mild concussion and bruises, and took his laptop computer and…
New York, March 20, 2006—Belarusian authorities muzzled independent journalists in the final hours of the presidential campaign—and beyond—as President Aleksandr Lukashenko won a third term in balloting on Sunday that international observers said fell short of democratic standards. Authorities arrested three Belarusian editors without explanation and barred at least four Russian journalists from covering the…
New York, March 17, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists deplores the ongoing government crackdown on independent media in Belarus ahead of a presidential election Sunday. Authorities barred two Polish journalists from entering the country to cover the poll, seized the print-run of an opposition newspaper, and pressured a cable TV operator to drop a Russian…
New York, March 16, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest government crackdown against independent journalists in the days before Sunday’s presidential election. Police arrested at least four journalists this week, and local courts handed them sentences of five to 10 days in jail on charges of hooliganism. Andrei Pochobut, editor of the magazine…
New York, March 14, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Belarusian authorities’ escalating harassment of the country’s few independent newspapers as Sunday’s presidential election approaches. Four newspapers based in the capital, Minsk, have been forced to interrupt publication less than a week before the balloting in which incumbent Aleksandr Lukashenko seeks re-election, according to local…