BAJ Appeals to Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression
BAJ sent urgent letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression David Kaye, informing about the recent violent attack on the correspondent of TUT.by portal Pavel Dabravolski, and about the continuing administrative prosecution of freelance journalists contributing to foreign mass media without accreditation.
BAJ calls on the Special Rapporteur to request explanations from Belarusian authorities regarding the recent beating of the correspondent by police officers in the building of court. BAJ insists that the journalist performed his professional duties, and his professional and citizen rights were violated.
In a separate urgent appeal BAJ asks to clarify the grounds for administrative prosecution under article 22.9 against Larysa Shyrakova and Kastus Zhukouski, and calls on the Special Rapporteur to urge to put an end to the prosecution of journalists for their work.