Belarus
State-controlled media in Belarus pose a serious challenge to independent media as they have the financial upperhand in employing new information technology to secure stronger media output. In this environment, IMS supports independent media and an agenda for press freedom through cooperation with the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), the Danish Union of Journalists and the international Federation of Journalists (IFJ).Archive
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- Appeal to the Danish Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lene Espersen
- Journalists beaten following Belarus elections
- Belarus elections – not all business as usual
- Internet regulation comes at a high price
- On a razor’s edge - new law stifles online media in Belarus
- 20 years after the Berlin Wall, Belarus still struggles
- For Free and Fair Media in Belarus, Assessment report 2009
- International pressure on Belarus government to improve press freedom
- Statement of the International Mission to the Republic of Belarus 20-24 september 2009
- A little bit of Europe in Belarus: A meeting of youth media journalists
- International media organisations call for more press freedom in Belarus
- Photographer provides rare window to Belarusian culture
- Belarus Monitoring of EU-Belarus dialogue 02-2009
- Civil society in Belarus urge further dialogue despite slow progress
- Belarusian media activist joins Danish campaign for women
- Call to international journalists: Look for the other story about Belarus
- An uneven playing field for independent media
- Media Monitoring in Belarus: Parliamentary Election 2004 Coverage in the Belarusian Mass Media
Journalists beaten following Belarus elections
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More than 20 journalists were beaten and arrested by police during a peaceful civil action in Minsk following the Presidential elections in Belarus on 19 December, according to the Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ)
The declared victory of incumbent President Lukashenka following Sunday’s Presidential elections in Belarus set off protests in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Several journalists were beaten and arrested
The Belarus Association of Journalists (BAJ) issued a statement of protest against the “shocking fact of severe force used by the police against journalists and civil activists in the evening of 19 December”.
The rare sight of people protesting in the streets could be seen in Minsk following the announcement that President Lukashenka would embark on a fourth term in office following a 79.7 per cent voters’ majority.
BAJ reported at least 20 incidents of police brutality against journalists who were covering what BAJ described as peaceful civil action in the Independence Square on the evening of 19 December. According to BAJ, police detained several journalists covering the event and paid no attention to journalistic IDs, thus severely breaking professional rights of journalists to receive information without hindrance. Read the full BAJ statement here.
Website logs citizen reports on election-related violations
Reports on election-related violations in Belarus also continued to flow to the website www.electby.org from ordinary voters the day after the elections.
The www.electby.org website, which logs citizens' reports on election-related falsifications, violence against citizens, and other violations of the rule of law in Belarus, received 615 testimonies from voters and citizens between 13 - 19 December located throughout the country.
Most of the reports on Electby.org detailed violations of Belarus’ election laws and regulations. 263 reports focused on forced early voting. While these reports were mainly sent by students, they also came from police and military officers, local officials and state employees.
Electby continued to function throughout election day, despite an attack on its website, collecting reports and broadcasting the Twitter feed #electby. People sent their testimonies by filling out an online form on the website (502 reports), emails (49) and text messages (64). On election day, the site received over 120 reports. Due to the attack on the Internet, most testimonies on 19 December were submitted by SMS, according to www.Electby.org.
During the period of 14-19 December, www.electby.org was visited by 17,500 visitors and recorded almost 70,000 page views. On Election Day alone, the site had almost 7,000 visitors and over 19,000 page views.
Follow news from Belarus on Twitter by #electby hashtag or follow news on Armenion.com on http://armenion.com/?tag=electby
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