BAJ, jailed activist Kaleśnikava awarded Günter Wallraff Prize

May 8, Pozirk. The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and prominent opposition activist Maryja Kaleśnikava, serving an 11-year prison term in Belarus, have been selected for the 2025 Günter Wallraff Prize for Press Freedom and Human Rights, the BAJ reports.

The Initiative for News Enlightenment will hold the award ceremony on May 9 in Germany’s Cologne. The prize is named after Günter Wallraf, a German journalist and writer, known as a pioneer of modern investigative journalism.

“This award is another important opportunity for us to remind about the 40 journalists currently held behind bars by [the regime of Alaksandar] Łukašenka for doing their jobs. The demand to free the media workers should be raised on all international platforms, because these people were taken hostages for their work,” said Barys Harecki, BAJ deputy chairman.

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