{"id":136462,"date":"2025-05-02T13:44:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T10:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/136462\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"journalists-in-belarus-and-exile-exposed-to-risks-baj","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/136462\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalists in Belarus and exile exposed to risks \u2013 BAJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 2, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarusian journalists both in Belarus and in exile continue to face threats, Aleh Aheje\u016d, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), has told participants in a media forum in Vilnius<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forum on security for journalists has been organized by the BAJ, the Lithuanian Union of Journalists and the Council of Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists working in Belarus are exposed to arbitrary arrests which \u201cmost likely entail torture,\u201d Aheje\u016d stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you are a journalist in Belarus, you are likely to be searched once a year (some more often) and summoned for interrogation, where they will conduct so-called \u2018conversations\u2019 with you, as they call it,\u201d he said. Harassment of family members and even neighbors is the daily routine for journalists who stayed in Belarus, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jailed media workers are usually branded as extremists and terrorists, which later complicates their life as the label imposes considerable limitations, such as restrictions on financial transactions or police supervision, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists who leave Belarus often face criminal charges filed in absentia, inclusion on interstate wanted lists, property seizures in Belarus and the intimidation of relatives, friends and acquaintances, Aheje\u016d noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the eve of May 3, World Press Freedom Day, at least 40 media workers were held behind bars in Belarus with more than 40 newsrooms branded \u201cextremist\u201d groups, according to the BAJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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