Status: 08.07.2021 6:24 p.m.
The Belarusian ruler Lukashenko continues to take action against the government-critical media in the country: Several online news portals were blocked, and there were again raids. At least three journalists were arrested.
In Belarus, the apparatus of the ruler Alexander Lukashenko continues to raid the independent media. The authorities blocked the website of “Nascha Niwa” (German: Our field). The Ministry of Information said the portal was disseminating prohibited information. There were no details of the reasons for the suspension.
According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, editor-in-chief Yegor Martinowitsch and editor Andrej Skurko were arrested and their apartments were searched. Four other journalists from “Nascha Niwa” are unreachable. The editor-in-chief of the independent news website orsha.eu, Igor Kasmerchaka, was also arrested, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In addition, access to the IT online magazine dev.by was blocked. The independent “Brestker Zeitung” and the editorial team of the Intex-Press portal also complained about raids.
In April “Nascha Niwa” was fined
“Nasha Niwa is not just a website, it is the oldest Belarusian newspaper,” said exiled opposition activist Svetlana Tichanovskaya in a video posted on Twitter. She called on the international community to support the independent media and journalists in Belarus.
“Nascha Niwa” was founded in 1906 and converted into a pure online newspaper in 2016 due to economic difficulties. More than 100,000 users access their content on the Internet. The popular news portal had reported in detail on the protests against President Alexander Lukashenko last year. The authorities had already increased the pressure on “Nascha Niwa” in the past few months. In April the media company was fined the equivalent of 4500 euros for “illegal business activity”.
Since the historic mass protests against the government last year, the Belarusian authorities have taken massive action against media that are not controlled by the state. The ruler Lukashenko, who has been criticized as the “last dictator in Europe”, sees himself under international criticism for suppressing all forms of independent journalism with propaganda in the state media. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, at least 25 journalists and other media workers are currently in custody or are under house arrest.