Belarus’ oldest newspaper is banned as extremist

Belarus’ oldest newspaper was banned on the 115th anniversary of its founding Tuesday, the latest move in the government’s relentless crackdown on independent media in the ex-Soviet nation.

Sep 21, 2020: Tens of thousands of people have again marched through the Belarusian capital on Sunday, demanding the President’s resignation. There have been protests ever since a disputed election in early August, in which incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner, but many allege the vote was rigged.

The Nasha Niva newspaper was outlawed as extremist by the Central District court in Minsk, which acted upon the request of the Ministry of Information.

The ruling will expose anyone who would publish or repost Nasha Niva materials to prison terms of up to seven years.

The Belarusian authorities blocked the online newspaper in July and arrested its chief editor, Yahor Martsinovich, and journalist Andrey Skurko, who have remained in custody.

.@nashaniva journalist Katsiaryna Karpitskaya spent a month in the Belarusian jail. She says the guards never let people shower, there are no mattresses or bed linens. Polit. prisoners should be released – they are innocent, they shouldn't be in jail.https://t.co/PKxe8RmslK

— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) September 21, 2021

Overall, 29 Belarusian journalists are in custody, serving their sentences or awaiting trial.

Most other Nasha Niva journalists have left the country and continued to publish newspaper online, changing its domain to bypass the blocking.

“The authorities are continuing to destroy Belarus’ independent media, calling everyone extremist,” said Andrei Bastunets, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. “The situation in Belarus is worse than in Cuba or Iran and is getting close to North Korean standards.”

He noted that Nasha Niva is widely mentioned in school textbooks as part of the national heritage, adding that it wasn’t immediately clear how Belarusian authorities would handle the situation after its ban.

Nasha Niva extensively covered the massive anti-government protests that erupted last year after President Alexander Lukashenko was handed a sixth term after an August 2020 presidential vote that was denounced as rigged by the opposition and the West.

Oct 12, 2020: Tens of thousands of Belarusians once again took to the streets of the capital Minsk to protest against hardline leader Alexander Lukashenko. Security forces have detained hundreds of demonstrators. Opposition groups say Lukashenko rigged elections in August and must step down.

Belarusian authorities responded with a sweeping crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.

This month, tensions flared on Belarus’ border with Poland over an influx of migrants. The EU has accused Lukashenko’s government of orchestrating the migration surge on its eastern flank as a “hybrid attack” in retaliation for the bloc’s sanctions on Belarus for its crackdown on protesters.

https://apnews.com/article/business-europe-media-newspapers-belarus-54abc6d624d3dc53fac3f0a2dbc4fd8d

Advertisement