Belarusian journalist Ihar Karnei sentenced to additional 8 months in prison
New York, December 13, 2024—A Belarusian court on Friday convicted freelance reporter Ihar Karnei of “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the prison administration” and sentenced him to an additional eight months in prison. Karnei is already serving a three-year prison sentence after being convicted in March 2024 on charges of participating in an extremist…
Serbia court rules to extradite journalist Andrey Gnyot to Belarus
Update: A Serbian appeals court announced on September 11 that it has sent the extradition case of Belarusian filmmaker Andrey Gnyot for a third review to the Belgrade Higher Court. Gnyot told CPJ on September 12 that he expects the next hearing “will not happen earlier than a month,” saying that “the most dangerous thing” about the…
CPJ calls on Serbia not to extradite Belarusian journalist Andrey Gnyot
Update: A Serbian appeals court announced on September 11 that it has sent the extradition case of Belarusian filmmaker Andrey Gnyot for a third review to the Belgrade Higher Court. Gnyot told CPJ on September 12 that he expects the next hearing “will not happen earlier than a month,” saying that “the most dangerous thing” about the…
RFE/RL Russian branch declared bankrupt by Moscow court
Paris, March 13, 2023 – In response to news reports that a Russian court declared Monday that the local branch of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was bankrupt, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “The bankruptcy of RFE/RL in Russia demonstrates how the country’s legislation on so-called…
Belarusian journalist Yury Hantsarevich sentenced to 2.5 years on extremism charges
Stockholm, July 14, 2022 – In response to a Belarus court’s sentencing of journalist Yury Hantsarevich to two years and six months in prison on an extremism charge Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for authorities not to contest his appeal. “Sentenced today for taking photographs, Yury Hantsarevich is merely…
At least five independent Belarusian journalists face trials, years in jail
Paris, June 3, 2022 – Ahead of the imminent trials of at least five independent Belarusian journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the country’s authorities to drop the charges against them and immediately release them from jail, CPJ said Friday. The journalists, whose trials are scheduled to begin between Monday, June 6,…
Belarus authorities sentence journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich to prison; label more media ‘extremist’
Stockholm, March 11, 2022 – Belarus authorities should reverse their recent designations of German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), local independent news site Regiyanalnaya Gazeta, and three videos by Russian blogger Yuriy Dud as “extremist”; release journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich, a former correspondent with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarusian service known locally as…
Freelance journalist Andrey Kuznechyk detained in Belarus
Vilnius, Lithuania, November 29, 2021 — Belarusian authorities should immediately release journalist Andrey Kuznechyk and stop detaining independent journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On November 25, Kuznechyk, a freelance correspondent for Radio Svaboda, the Belarusian-language service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), returned to his home in Minsk, the…
Four press freedom trends to watch amid Belarus’s antigovernment protests
The images coming out of Belarus look like scenes from a blockbuster film: A president clinging to power striding out of a helicopter holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle, while his gun-toting teenage son and heir apparent walks alongside him in a helmet and military vest; the protesters calling for the president’s removal singing songs, playing music, and taking off their…
