New raids in Belarus as authorities intensify crackdown on media

BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES have widened their crackdown on independent media, raiding media offices and journalists’ homes across the ex-Soviet nation.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said the authorities searched apartments and offices of at least 21 journalists in the capital Minsk and the cities of Brest, Gomel, Grodno and Pinsk.

“The authorities are using an entire arsenal of repressions against journalists – intimidation, beatings, searches and arrests,” said the association’s head, Andrei Bastunets.

Among those targeted were journalists who co-operated with the Belsat TV channel funded by

Poland and the US-funded RFE/ RL broadcaster.

RFE/RL journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich was detained after the search, his wife Maryana said in a telephone interview from Minsk.

“Nine people broke into our apartment, seized all the equipment and took Aleh away in handcuffs,” she told the Associated

Press. The authorities also broke down the door of the RFE/ RL’s Minsk office to search it.

The new raids continue a sweeping clampdown on independent media and non-government organisations.

Earlier this week, officers raided the homes of 10 workers of the Viasna human rights centre, as well as its offices in Minsk and other cities. They also searched a number of other Belarusian nongovernmental organisations and journalists.

The action came after authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko promised to “deal with” non-governmental organisations he accuses of fomenting unrest.

Belarus was rocked by months of protests after his August 2020 election to a sixth term in a vote that the opposition and the West saw as rigged.

Belarusian authorities responded to opposition demonstrations with a massive crackdown, including police beating thousands of demonstrators and arresting more than 35,000 people.