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In Belarus, a Press Badge Makes You a Target

Danila Galperovich

   Beatings, arrests, court cases, internet blocks and revocation of press
   credentials -- being an accredited journalist is no longer a guarantee
   of protection for independent media in Belarus.

   Four members of Press Club Belarus, a network that focuses on
   journalism, have been in pre-trial detention since December 22, when
   club founder Yulia Slutskaya, program director Ala Sharko, financial
   director Sergei Olszewski and operator'¯Pyatro'¯Slutski, Yulia's son,
   were [1]arrested on accusations of large-scale tax fraud.

   Two others linked to the club are also in custody: Ksenia'¯Lutskina and
   Siarhei'¯Yakupau.

   Lutskina'¯is one of several journalists who resigned from state media
   in protest at the August 2020 contested presidential election in
   Belarus, when President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory in a'¯vote
   opposition politicians'¯say was flawed. Opposition leader Sviatlana
   Tsikhanouskaya, who campaigned after her husband was jailed for his
   election bid, remains in exile, and security forces responded to weeks
   of street protests with sometimes deadly violence.

References

   1. https://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-press-club-tax-crimes-crackdown/31028786.html

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