The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the immediate release of Belarusian journalist Yauhen Nikalayevich, who has been sentenced to 1.5 years in prison. This demand comes after the Brest Regional Court upheld a previous ruling from the Pinsk City and District Court that found Nikalayevich guilty under Article 342(1) of the Belarusian Criminal Code for “organizing or participating in gross violations of public order.” The charges are allegedly linked to his coverage of the 2020 protests against President Aleksandr Lukashenko, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). These protests saw thousands of citizens, including journalists, detained for advocating for new elections.
Nikalayevich’s case highlights a broader issue of press freedom in Belarus, where the government has been accused of systematic repression of independent media outlets since the 2020 presidential election. The CPJ has linked his sentencing to the ongoing persecution faced by journalists in the country. Gulnoza Said, the CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator, criticized the authorities for their vindictive actions against those who reported on the 2020 protests.
Following his initial arrest in August 2020 during the protests, Nikalayevich left Belarus after a brief administrative detention but was arrested again upon his return in early 2024. He is currently one of about 1,400 political prisoners in Belarus, as reported by the Human Rights Center Viasna. The Belarusian Ministry of Interior subsequently intensified its actions against Nikalayevich by adding him to its registry of individuals allegedly involved in “extremist activities” on December 6, 2024.
International reactions to these developments have included statements from the German and British embassies in Minsk. Both expressed concerns over the continued arrests of journalists and the suppression of free expression, with the German Embassy referring to the situation as a tragic example and underscoring the Media Freedom Coalition’s commitment to advocating for the release of unjustly detained journalists. These concerns are underscored by a recent Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report, which ranked Belarus as the world’s fourth-largest “prison for journalists.”
The crackdown on independent media in Belarus has led to the arrest of 336 journalists and 60 cases of violence against them, forcing an estimated 400 journalists into exile. As a result, Belarus has seen its rank in the Press Freedom Index fall to 167th out of 180 countries, with the government labeling most independent media and the BAJ as “extremist organizations.”