MOSCOW (AP) – Belarus, which went through three weeks of major protests opposed to its authoritarian president, seriously suppressed the media on Saturday, expelling some foreign journalists reporting in the country and revoking the accreditation of many Belarusian journalists.
Two Moscow-based Associated Press hounds covering the recent protests in Belarus were deported to Russia on Saturday. Furthermore, the government informed the Belarusian PA hounds that their press references had been revoked.
“The Associated Press denounces in the most powerful terms this flagrant attack on press freedom in Belarus. The Palestinian Authority calls on the Belarusian government to repair the references of independent hounds and allow them to continue to report the facts on what is in Belarus to the world. “”, said Lauren Easton, director of media relations at the Palestinian Authority.
The Association of Journalists of Belarus said that accreditation rights had also been withdrawn to 17 Belarusians who were running for various other media outlets. German television ARD said that two of its Moscow-based news hounds had also been deported to Russia, a Belarusian manufacturer faces trial on Monday and its BBC said two of its broadcasters running for the BBC’s Russian service in Minsk had also seen their accreditation revoked and US-funded Free Europe/Radio Liberty radio said five of its announcers had lost their accreditation. .
Criticism of repression came from the media and governments.
The program director of ARD’s largest regional subsidiary, WDR, which oversees Belarusian policy, called his team’s solution a camera as “absolutely unacceptable. “
“This time, independent information in Belarus continues to be hampered and becomes almost impossible,” Joerg Schoeneborn said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas summoned the Belarusian ambassador after the arrest and expulsion of foreign hounds in Minsk and said that “this attack on press freedom is another damaging step towards further repression of discussions with the population. “
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “constantly called on hounds to do their jobs without harassment, anywhere in the world,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The International Press Institute said that “the Belarusian government will have to withdraw without delay all tariffs that oppose hounds detained during the recent police crackdown, prevent the cancellation of accreditation of foreign hounds, and promptly abandon any interference with public publishers. “
U. S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus suggested the Belarusian government act in moderation, release detainees unfairly, and report on the lack of protesters.
“We are involved in the continuity of journalists, the blocking of independent media and opposition websites, intermittent Internet outages and random arrests of nonviolent citizens exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression,” he said.
Protests in Belarus began after the presidential election on 9 August, which the authorities say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term with 80% support. Protesters say the effects have been manipulated and are asking Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1ninenine4, to resign.
The protests, some of which attracted mass crowds estimated at 200,000 or more, are the biggest and highest sustained challenge in Lukashenko’s 26-year term, which has consistently suppressed opposition and independent media.
On Saturday, a lot of women most commonly dressed in red and white, the colors of the ancient Belarusian flag used by the opposition as emblem, marched in the minsk capital to protest.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would be willing to send cops to quell protests in neighboring Belarus if asked through Lukashenko, a perspective that obviously worries the United States.
“We remain committed to the long-term commitment to support belarusian sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the aspirations of other Belarusians to decide on their leaders and decide their own path, without outdoor intervention,” he said. Ortagus, the U. S. spokeswoman, said in the statement.
The U. S. Embassy in Belarus issued a Saturday in which “we are involved in the continued persecution of journalists, the blocking of independent media and opposition websites, intermittent Internet outages, and random arrests of nonviolent citizens exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and expression. “”
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Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this story.
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