Committee to Protect Journalists: Repression against media increases in Belarus

The annual report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based international human rights organization, has been released today.

The document titled “Attacks on the Press in 2011” notes the repressive governments and criminal groups use new and traditional methods of information control to hide crimes, muffle the voice of opposition and deprive citizens of their rights. The report notes mass violations of the rights of journalists in Syria, Belarus, Azerbaijan and other countries, radio Svaboda reports.

As estimated by the committee, 46 journalists were killed in the world last year.

The section of the report dedicated to Belarus reads after a rigged December 2010 presidential vote, authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka unleashed two waves of repression against critics and political opponents, one in early year and one in summer. The KGB and police raided independent newsrooms and journalists' homes, confiscated reporting equipment, and jailed independent reporters.

Politicized courts handed suspended prison terms to prominent journalists Iryna Khalip and Andrzej Poczobut. Police used brutal force against reporters who covered nationwide anti-government protests. Critical news websites experienced multiple denial-of-service attacks and official blocking. The suspicious 2010 death of Aleh Byabenin, founder of the pro-opposition news website Charter 97, remained unexamined. With a domestic economy suffering, Lukashenka promised to free jailed critics if the European Union lifted travel and trade sanctions. During a year of relentless attacks on journalists, the Lukashenka administration reinforced its reputation as Europe's most repressive regime for the press.

The Committee to Protect Journalists publishes the figures characterizing the situation of freedom of press in Belarus:

2 news sites blacklisted

39 days Natallia Radzina was jailed

108 days KGB occupied journalist Iryna Khalip's home

95 detained in summer crackdown

114 pieces of equipment seized from journalists in 2011