People hold posters reading ‘Where do Belarusian journalists end up when they go to work?’, ‘They did their job and ended up in Okrestina’ [detenion centre], and ‘Free Minsk From Violence’ during a rally in support of detained journalists, Minsk, Belarus, 3 September 2020, Natalia FedosenkoTASS via Getty Images At least 11 journalists and media workers remain in detention, among them Katsiaryna Barysevich, Daria Chultsova, Yulia Slutskaya, Alla Sharko, Siarhei Alsheuski, Sergey Olshevski, Petr Slutski, Ksenia Lutskina, Andrei Aliaksandrau, Katsiaryna Andreeva and Aliaksandr Mikrukou.
This statement was originally published on europeanjournalists.org on 5 February 2021.
Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus on 7 February, the undersigned organisations working in the field of freedom of expression and media freedom call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and media workers who continue to be arbitrarily d
International Day of Solidarity with Belarus
Index and 16 other organisations call for all imprisoned journalists to be immediately released
05 Feb 2021
Protests in Belarus in 2020, photo: Max Katz
Ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Belarus on 7 February, the undersigned organisations working in the field of freedom of expression and media freedom call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and media workers who continue to be arbitrarily detained.
Nearly six months since President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in what has been widely acknowledged and condemned as a fraudulent election, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya remains in exile and thousands of protesters continue to take to the streets of Minsk calling for his resignation.