May 3, Pozirk. Raising the topic of Belarus at the international level, talking about jailed journalists and lobbying for pressure on authorities in Minsk may help overcome challenges that the Belarusian media sector is facing, said Andrej Bastuniec, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).
This year, Belarus ranked 167th of 180 assessed countries and territories in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, turning into the worst ex-Soviet country for journalists after Turkmenistan, he noted.
On World Press Freedom Day, the BAJ head expressed solidarity with journalists in captivity at an event in Lithuania’s Vilnius with his Belarusian and Lithuanian colleagues participating.
Jailed journalists, like all people imprisoned in politically-motivated cases, face a lot of pressure and “enormous challenges” behind bars, he said. “We must remember them and provide all possible assistance [including] for their families.”
At least 43 media workers remain behind bars in Belarus, according to the RSF.
