Press Leaders Condemn Crackdown on Journalists in Belarus

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Jul 20, 2021, 15:58 ET

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. press leaders spoke out Tuesday against the government in Belarus for its escalating attacks on journalists.

Since Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, claimed victory in a fraudulent election almost one year ago, he has led a growing crackdown on independent media organizations and the people who work there, part of a larger effort to repress anyone in Belarus whom he perceives to be his enemy.

"We condemn Alexander Lukashenko's brazen attacks on journalists and other independent voices in Belarus," said Lisa Nicole Matthews, the National Press Club president, and Angela Greiling Keane, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. "We call on Lukashenko to halt this violent and desperate attempt to crush freedom of expression, and we call on people of principle everywhere to use every means available to pressure him to do so."

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya defeated Lukashenko in the August 2020 presidential election in Belarus, but Lukashenko instead claimed victory and retained power.

Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Tikhanovskaya said Lukashenko is destroying the media in Belarus.

"Lukashenko and his cronies, they take revenge on the mass media that dared to fulfill their job and showing the truth and showing demonstrations," she said. "It is crucial for this fight for the whole world to see those pictures."

She called for financial support of media from Belarus who were forced out of the country.

"Journalists tell the truth without any kind of limitations," she said. "Journalists should not be under attack. No way."

Fact-based reporters in Belarus face an increasingly dire situation.

Belarussian security personnel have repeatedly broken into the offices of media organizations and their employees' homes, according to news reports and human rights groups. Dozens of journalists have been harassed, stripped of accreditations, beaten and jailed.

Just last Friday, authorities raided the offices of several news organizations, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Minsk, Belarus's capital. The authorities conducted searches and made arrests.

Two days prior, security forces had conducted a similar assault on multiple human rights organizations and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, which represents media professionals.

Last month, NPC and NPCJI leaders said Lukashenko's pattern of repression is "antithetical to what journalists worldwide hold dear."

On May 23, Lukashenko ordered a fighter jet to force a civilian passenger aircraft to land in Belarus so that authorities there could arrest Raman Pratasevich, a dissident Belarusian journalist. The government used a phony bomb threat against the plane as part of the operation. Pratasevich remains under house arrest, according to recent news reports.

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. The Club has 3,000 members representing nearly every major news organization and is a leading voice for press freedom in the United States and around the world.

The National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's non-profit affiliate, promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement.

Contact: John Donnelly, NPC Press Freedom Team Chairman: [email protected] 202-650-6738.

SOURCE National Press Club