Political repression in Belarus. The blind spot in Europe’s media

The report covers the situation of Belarusian citizens, who became affected by politically motivated persecution in their motherland. Six sequences are highlighting the aspects

– political prisoners
– prisoners of conscience
– the death of Yana Palyakova
– female civil society activists
– the situation of repressed mothers
– journalists denied to work in Belarus

The situation of females is given special attention to meet the significance of women in the sphere of civil society and human rights defenders. Activists in these sectors are the main target of political persecution – this is the key for to understand the subject matter. The actual situation confirms this conclusion: among three political prisoners and eleven prisoners of consience, there is not a single politician of the democratic opposition.

The purpose of this report was to put the focus on this blind spot in Europe’s media reports about Belarus. When it was feasible, all source material was collected on the ground, that means: in a country, which is ranked 154th out of 173 in the Reporters Without Borders’ ‘world press freedom index 2008’. Those people who were interviewed outside Belarus, had been forced to leave their motherland as a result of political persecution.

It is important to know: parts of this report might not comply with the ‘Regulations for the Accreditation of Foreign Journalists in Belarus’. Please also note, that they are providing for restrictions to foreign media, in case ‘it is established that the medium has used the services of non-accredited journalists and (or) other individuals’.

This means: media considering to broadcast this report have to decide either for ‘freedom of the press’ or for self-censorship in order to avoid restrictions by the authorities of Belarus.

The production team ‚BEL_air – art in resistance‘ choose ‘freedom of the press’.

for more information, please visit: www.backlab.at/kingdom/radio_art.htm