May 05, 2023

World Press Freedom: Belarus cracks down on journalists

topic:	Freedom of Expression
located:	Belarus, Poland
editor:	Katarzyna Rybarczyk

In observation of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, governments are reiterating their commitment to protect freedom of expression. And yet, there are still many regions where journalists face continuous persecution for speaking out against abuses of power and human rights violations. In Belarus, for example, reporters regularly risk imprisonment for criticising the country’s authoritarian regime. Such is the case of Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist and activist who has recently been sentenced to eight years in prison for speaking the truth. 

Poczobut’s coverage for a prominent Polish magazine “Gazeta Wyborcza” addressed the latest events in Belarus, such as the protests following Lukashenko's controversial win in the 2020 presidential elections. In his reporting, he also commented on Lukashenko’s attitude towards Poland, stating that “the leader of the neighbouring country is a Polonophobe who for decades has been tracing non-existent Polish conspiracies, and who considers all his opponents, if not Poles, then at least half-Poles.”

Poczobut had already been jailed twice, in 2011 and 2012, for allegedly insulting Lukashenko. In the first case, he was found guilty but sentenced to probation; in the second, the investigation was dropped.

The third time, however, Poczobut wasn’t so lucky; he was arrested in March 2021 and has since then been kept in custody, awaiting trial. He refused to sign a petition to be pardoned by Lukashenko, and, in February this year, a court in Minsk sentenced him to eight years in high-security prison. The charges accused Poczobut of inciting hatred and encouraging actions aimed at harming national security.

Activists and press freedom organisations have been calling for Poczobut's release and working towards ensuring journalists are able to work and speak without fear of persecution.

“Andrzej Poczobut is one of the most courageous Belarusian journalists. He came under pressure from the authorities many times. Despite the danger and threats, Andrzej did not leave the country. He did not leave, even when, after his arrest and detention in a pre-trial facility, he was offered to be released on the condition that he pled guilty,” Barys Haretski, Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) told FairPlanet. “Now Andrzej is just being avenged. They take revenge for honest journalism, for his work in the Union of Poles in Belarus, for his principled stance.” 

Regrettably, Poczobut is not the only reporter who became a victim of the Belarusian crackdown on independent media. There are “Hundreds of searches, arrests, blocked sites, banned media outlets. As of this morning [1 May, 2023], 33 media representatives are in prisons in Belarus,” pointed out Haretski. “This is one of the worst situations for the media in the world.” 

The BAJ calls for the immediate release of Poczobut and all the other currently imprisoned media representatives. Additionally, in support of their colleagues behind bars, the BAJ is organising a marathon of solidarity among journalistic associations around the world. It symbolically starts on 3 May in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Violations of press freedom in Belarus have implications for other human rights, and should be everyone’s concern. This is why, as Haretski explains, the goal of BAJ’s action is to remind people in other countries that in Belarus journalists are being imprisoned simply for doing their job.

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