EU urged Belarus to end crackdown on journalists and activists

European Union “strongly” condemned Belarusian crackdown on journalists, activists and NGOs and demanded that the country’s authorities arrest him, respect their international commitments and obligations, and “Finally, respect the Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of their own people.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, criticized that the recent closure of the Belarusian Association of Journalists is “part of a systematic and continuing crackdown on all independent voices in the country”.

The EU stressed that there are 27 media professionals among the 649 Belarusian citizens recognized as political prisoners and recalled that the independent platform tut.by she was “silenced” in May and criminal proceedings have been initiated against her board of directors and journalists.

Added to this is the “relentless campaign” against NGOs and human rights activists, including searches of private homes and the arrest of citizens now facing “serious charges”.

“The EU strongly condemns the current repression, calls on the Belarusian authorities to put an end to it, to respect their international commitments and obligations within the framework of the UN and the OSCE and finally to respect human rights and freedoms fundamentals of their own population», Notes the text.

The spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) concludes by ensuring that the EU “will continue to stand alongside the Belarusian people and support civil society, including the free and independent media”.

Roman Protasevich, a persecuted journalist

European Union, United States, Great Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Belarus for the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in order to arrest the journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega in May. The measures build on previous sanctions for Lukashenko’s brutal crackdown on opposition figures and activists after last summer’s elections, which Western officials and rights groups called rigged.

The reporter, who was traveling with his girlfriend, was director and one of the founders of Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, with over 1.2 million subscribers.

This channel played an important role in transmitting huge opposition protests against the president after the fraudulent presidential elections in August 2020. However, the media was declared extremist by Belarus as soon as it saw its capacity for mobilization, and its two founders were accused of organizing riots and inciting social hatred. Protests have dissipated in recent months, but Belarusian authorities continue to suppress the opposition with arrests.

Protasevich, who lived in exile in Lithuania, was wanted by his country’s authorities. The Belarusian KGB put them on a list of people implicated in “terrorism”, crimes for which he can be sentenced to 15 years in prison or even the death penalty, according to the opposition.

The case of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya

Earlier this month, the US Secretary of State, Antoine Blinken, attacked the Belarusian government and accused the country of committing a “intolerable act of repression“Against the athlete Krystsyna Tsimanouskaya, who denounced that the authorities in her country were trying to force her to leave Japan against her will.

“(Alexander) Lukashenko regime seeks another act of transnational repression“Said the head of American diplomacy, who accused Minsk of having” tried to force “the departure of Tsimanouskaya from Japan, where the Olympic Games were being held.

Blinken thus regretted the attitude of the Belarusian government, which was going to take measures against the athlete for “simply exercising his right to freedom of expression”.

“These actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to the most basic of rights and cannot be tolerated.“He added.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, of which Cold War-style defection in the Tokyo Olympics He touched people all over the world, urged his countrymen to follow his example and called on them to stop being afraid. In an interview with the press agency AFP for the first anniversary of a contested presidential election in Belarus, said his country “is no longer safe for its own citizens”.

“People are afraid to go to demonstrations because they are afraid of being beaten, they are afraid of ending up in jail”, said the 24-year-old from an office in Warsaw, Poland, of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation (BSSF). “I would like my country to be free, I would like every citizen to have the right to freedom of expression, that everyone can live a normal life and stop being afraid,” he said.

Since the disputed presidential elections of August 9, 2020, Belarus has been rocked by political protests and a crackdown on the opposition by the president, Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1994.

(With information from Europa Press)

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