Yuliya Mudreuskaya becomes the latest Belarussian journalist to receive an absurd sentence from the authoritarian state.

Carola Schneider, a correspondent for Austria's national broadcaster, was detained by the police along with her cameraman. The incident took place in Minsk on August 9. Police brought the pair to the station, though both Carola and her cameraman were released after some time. The CFWIJ condemns the ongoing crackdown against journalists and media organizations in the country. Violations and threats against women journalists working for the free press have become a routine pattern. CFWIJ calls on President Lukashenko's government to end the harassment of women journalists.

Nasta Pilyugina, a blogger and host of the "dzigital" podcast, was detained in Minsk on the morning of July 29. She left her home around 11 a.m. and was carrying her laptop in her car. Sometime after her departure, she was presumably apprehended. The authorities searched her residence but shared no information regarding her location or where she was detained. CFWIJ condemns the unjustified detention of the blogger and demands the police release her. We continue to monitor the persecution of women journalists in Belarus.

Volha Takarchuk runs a political blog on Youtube and has a following of 37,000 subscribers. Volha was accused of violating the rules of procedure and was put in solitary confinement. It is not clear what was that violation. She was arrested on the orders of the prosecutor of Pershamiaski district, in Minsk on May 23.

State officials cracked down on civilians and journalists for organizing a protest rally against President Alexander Lukashenko. Of those arrested, at least five are journalists, most of them women. The continued repression of civil liberties and free press in the country has sent a wave of outrage in the international community.

Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova were sentenced to two years imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony. The journalists were arrested for covering a protest rally last year.

Security forces raided the homes of several journalists and human rights activists earlier this month. Offices of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and Human Rights Center Viasna were also searched without any real grounds, in what appears to be a fresh crackdown on civil liberties by the authorities. Freelance journalist Larysa Shchyrakova was amongst those targeted.

Belsat journalists Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova face up to three years sentence in prison over their journalistic coverage of protests held across the country. The first hearing of the trial against the journalists was held today. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the unfair charges towards Belarusian journalists and demands their immediate release.

Journalists Katsyaryna Andreyeva and Darya Chultsova are behind bars since November 2020 for live streaming a protest. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the unjustified arrest of journalists on duty.

Since the beginning of the year, the Belarusian Association of Journalists has recorded more than 400 cases of harassment of journalists for their professional activities. Unlawful acts against journalists hiked with the elections nearing and the protests that followed afterwards.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled by yet another serious breach of press freedom. On October 4, 16 journalists were detained in Belarus, seven of them being women. While four of the detained journalists who were impeded at work were released after verification of their documents at police stations; three of them still remain under custody and are awaiting trial.

With ongoing protests sparked after the allegedly false victory announcement of Alexander Lukashenko who has been ruling the country for an iron fist for 26 years, on Sunday, demonstrators marched to the presidential palace to “celebrate” Lukashenko’s 66th birthday.

In the 20 days since the disputed presidential elections, Belarus has presented anything but ideal working conditions for journalists. Following the allegedly falsified election results which put “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko back to power, Belarus has begun to tighten its grip on journalists. Belarusian Association of Journalists documented over 100 cases of detention of journalists since August 9th. Detained journalists were kept in horrifying conditions, raising concern globally. The journalists were also beaten and some were deliberately targeted with rubber bullets.

Belarus has been grabbing the world’s attention in a notorious way for the past month as citizens rejected the suspicious election results and took to the streets. The country has been on the headlines for torture and mistreatment of protestors, including journalists.

Aleksandr Lukashenko’s early announcement of “victory” brought crowds into the streets on the night of August 9 with journalists getting the brunt of police violence. The Coalition For Women In Journalism documented at least 15 threats and attacks against women journalists working on the ground for the past two weeks.