{"id":198942,"date":"2026-08-06T22:35:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T19:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198942\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T23:53:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:53:02","slug":"wave-of-pressure-on-parents-of-exiled-journalists-association-says","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198942\/","title":{"rendered":"Wave of pressure on parents of exiled journalists, association says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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August 6, <\/strong>Pozirk<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Authorities have stepped up pressure on the relatives of exiled Belarusian journalists, with police officers questioning their parents and searching their homes, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent weeks, human rights defenders have learned about at least 15 such cases as a wave of harassment has swept across Belarus, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District police inspectors as well as officers of the Committee for State Security (KGB) and the interior ministry\u2019s Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (HUBAZiK) are visiting people, asking where their children live and occasionally searching their homes and ordering them to present themselves for interrogations. Several people have reportedly been forced to provide saliva samples for genetic testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BAJ Deputy Chairman Aleh Ahieje\u016d noted that authorities are inventing new forms of harassment, such as forced DNA sample collection. People are visited not only at home but also at their workplaces, which may create additional problems, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities have put about 100 Belarusian media workers and bloggers on the international wanted list, which means that criminal cases have been opened against them in Belarus, Ahieje\u016d said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the historic 2020 post-election protests, the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime branded the country\u2019s independent media as \u201cextremist organizations,\u201d banished their editorial staff from Belarus and banned their content from distribution in the country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the BAJ, 21 media workers are currently behind bars in Belarus. In all, human rights organizations had identified and documented 880 political prisoners in Belarus as of August 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 6, Pozirk. Authorities have stepped up pressure on the relatives of exiled Belarusian journalists, with police officers questioning their parents and searching their homes, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported on Thursday. In recent weeks, human rights defenders have learned about at least 15 such cases as a wave of harassment has swept […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":64263,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-198942","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWave of pressure on parents of exiled journalists, association says | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 6, Pozirk. 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