05 Jul 21 | Belarus, News and features, Statements
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Andrei Aliaksandrau
Human rights organisations will today urge UN Human Rights Council Member States to maintain explicit calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Belarusian journalist and human rights defender Andrei Aliaksandrau, who is now facing up to 15 years in prison on baseless charges of “treason to the state”.
Aliaksandrau has long been a defender of freedom of expression in Belarus and beyond, having previously held positions at Index on Censorship and ARTICLE 19, among other media and free speech organisations. He was detained on 12 January 2021, along with his partner, Irina Zlobina and has remained in detention since then.
The charges against Aliaksandrau and Zlobina stem from allegations that they paid the fines of journalists and protesters whom authorities detained during last year’s pro-democracy protests, part of a concerning trend by Belarusian authorities to use the imposition of new legislation to severely limit freedoms of assembly, association, and expression. To date, only Aliaksandrau has been charged with treason.
“The regime has begun to impose tougher charges on those in pre-trial detention to further suppress dissent,” ARTICLE 19 will tell the UN Human Rights Council today. “Andrei Aliaksandrau, a journalist who has been behind bars since January, has recently seen his charges related to public order escalate to more severe charges of high treason under Article 356 of the Belarus Criminal Code.”
“[W]e are gravely concerned for journalist and media manager Andrei Aliaksandrau,” Human Rights House Foundation will tell the UN Human Rights Council. “We call for his immediate release and exoneration.”
The calls from international civil society are part of an Interactive Dialogue at the HRC with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Anaïs Marin. This formal agenda item follows submission of the Special Rapporteur’s regular reporting to the Council. In her report, the Special Rapporteur notes that “several human rights defenders and activists are currently imprisoned for having provided, through their organizations, charity support to persons detained during the post-electoral crackdown in the form of legal assistance or solidarity funds to pay for fines.”
The Special Rapporteur has reported regularly to the Council since the mandate was created in 2012 in response to “the existence of a pattern of serious violations of human rights […] that is of a systemic nature.” The arrest and detention of Aliaksandrau is another example of this pattern and follows the death on 21 May 2021 of political prisoner Vitold Ashurak while incarcerated by the authorities for doing legitimate human rights work.
For more information please contact:
Jessica Ni Mhainin, Policy and Campaigns Manager, Index on Censorship: [email protected]
Dave Elseroad, Head of Advocacy, Human Rights House Foundation: [email protected], +41 78 344 36 18
Joanna Szymanska, Senior Programme Officer for Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19: [email protected] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
02 Jul 21 | Belarus, Media Freedom, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”117020″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship and 13 other human rights, freedom of expression, media freedom, and journalists’ organisations unreservedly condemn the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of human rights defender and journalist Andrei Aliaksandrau, who is now facing up to 15 years in prison on baseless charges of “treason to the state”.
Aliaksandrau has long been a defender of freedom of expression in Belarus and beyond, having previously held positions at the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Index on Censorship, and Article 19 among other media and free speech organisations.
Aliaksandrau was detained in January 2021. The Investigative Committee, Belarus’s criminal investigation service, indicted him on public order offences, for which he was facing up to three years in prison. The charges stem from allegations that Aliaksandrau paid the fines of journalists and protesters whom authorities detained during last year’s pro-democracy protests, triggered by the highly disputed August 2020 presidential election. The Belarusian Investigative Committee and other law enforcement agencies wrongly equated this with financing unlawful protests.
On 30 June, Belapan reported that Aliaksandrau has now been charged with “treason to the state” based on the same set of allegations.
“More than €530,000 worth of fines were imposed on protesters between 9 August and the end of 2020. It is absurd to conflate efforts to help pay those fines with a public order offense, let alone treason,” the organisations said.
“Belarusian authorities created a new mark of tyranny by laying treason charges against Aliaksandrou. While we urge the release of all 529 political prisoners currently detained in Belarus, which include at least 15 journalists, we are at this point in time expressing special concern for Aliaksandrau. To date, he is the only detainee facing the fabricated charge of treason.”
“Aliaksandrau has already spent 172 days in prison for his alleged ‘crime’. We call for his immediate and unconditional release,” the organisations said.
Signed by:
Article 19
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ)
East European Democratic Centre (EEDC)
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
Human Rights Watch
IFEX
Index on Censorship
International Media Support (IMS)
PEN America
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
01 Jul 21 | Belarus, News and features
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In a shocking development, Belarusian journalist and former Index on Censorship staff member Andrei Aliaksandrau has been charged with treason. Detained on 12 January with his partner Irina Zlobina, Andrei was originally accused of organising actions that grossly violate public order. He was due for release later this month. The new charge marks an escalation in Belarus’s draconian crackdown on press freedom and human rights activism. Andrei now faces up to 15 years in prison.
For Index on Censorship, all victims of human rights abuse are cause for concern when their right to speak out is denied, their right to freedom of expression at risk and their liberty unjustly curtailed. The excessive and groundless charges against Andrei bring the injustice faced by thousands of Belarusian journalists painfully home. For Andrei was also a key part of Index’s team in London from 2012 to 2014, bringing his expertise, his insights and his great sense of irony to the publication’s coverage of Belarus and the region. He also embraced British culture, loving pubs and beer and Liverpool FC. He is part of the Index family.
Andrei returned to Belarus after some years working in the UK out of commitment to his country and faith that a democratic future is possible. It was an act of courage, but he has never lost his sense of humour or the habit of downplaying the danger he faces.
After the sham elections in 2020, a former colleague at Index (and Everton fan) messaged him to see if he was all right. He replied: “This got to be the year Liverpool finally won the Premier League! I knew it was going to be a hell of a year.”
In the months before his detention he was working as a media manager and trainer with DW Akademie. He was previously deputy director of the Belarusian Private News Agency (Belapan). Following Andrei’s arrest, officers from the Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs searched Belapan’s office and confiscated computer hard drives along with other material.
The treatment of Andrei is a violation of his fundamental rights under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Belarus in 1973.
Andrei’s former colleagues are devastated by the news of the charges against him and will fight for his release as an act of solidarity. He was part of the UK’s human rights community – working for Index’s sister organisation Article 19 as well during his time in London. It is often the individual stories of repression and victimisation that move people to action. His unjust imprisonment must be a focus for activists, politicians and the government in the fight for long overdue democracy in Belarus.
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22 Jun 21 | China, Hong Kong, Media Freedom, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”116952″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Ten months after the arrest of Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and a massive raid at the group’s headquarters in August last year, the Hong Kong Police’s national security department launched a bigger strike against the Apple Daily, the group’s major publication, last Thursday (17 June).
They were alleged of colluding with foreign forces, one of the crimes under the national security law (NSL).
It marks the beginning of the end of the beleaguered newspaper founded by the controversial businessman in 1995. Hit by a government freeze on its bank accounts, the Next Digital’s board of directors said after an emergency meeting on Monday the newspaper will cease operation on Saturday unless the Government releases assets frozen.
Staff were allowed to leave immediately without giving prior notice. As this article went to press, its online operation was largely shut down.
The imminent demise of the media group, inaugurated with the launching of its flagship newspaper Apple Daily in 1995, will deal a body blow to the city’s press freedom.
More importantly, it signifies the deplorable failure of the Chinese Communist Party in honouring its promises to Hong Kong people and the world under the “one country, two systems” policy.
The troubled daily plunged into a deeper crisis after the Government launched the second, now fatal, strike on Thursday. Five top executives and editors were arrested. They were alleged of colluding with foreign forces by the publication of dozens of articles on their newspaper and online platform. Details of the articles have not been revealed.
On the same day, the Police’s national security department sent more than 500 officers to raid the newspaper’s headquarters. They took away more than 40 computers from the local news section.Security minister John Lee warned citizens and staff to “cut ties with these criminals,” referring to the newspaper.
The newspaper’s publisher, Cheung Kim-hung, and chief editor Ryan Law, were formally charged on Saturday. Their bail request was denied.
The other three executives were released on bail late Friday. Deputy publisher Chan Pui-man, who is one of them, has vowed to keep publishing.
Beginning in the early hours of Friday, readers snapped up copies of the newspaper to lend their support – and to say no to the authoritarian rule of the Government.
Half a million copies were sold like hot cakes. It was a scene reminiscent of the mass-buying in August following the arrest of Lai and the raid.
This “people power” will not be able to rescue the newspaper against the enormous power given to the national security organ under a law with almost zero checks and balances – even by the judiciary.
Invoking the NSL to take journalists to court for the first time, the case stoked fear of penalising journalists for “speech crime”, which is not uncommon in Communist-ruled China, but is rare in Hong Kong.
The confiscation of journalistic materials during the latest raid also set a damaging precedent. It will seriously shake public confidence in the protection of sources of information by reporters. Citizens will become more reluctant in talking to journalists, not to mention revealing sensitive information.
When the provisions of the NSL were announced about one year ago, journalists voiced their concerns about the profound ramifications on press freedom. That Lai and the Apple Daily have long been seen as a hostile force by the Government and Beijing is an open secret.
Ignited by an extradition bill in 2019, the prolonged months-long protest that was followed by foreign sanctions against top officials in the two governments has prompted the party leadership under Xi Jinping to harden their strategy towards dissenting voices in Hong Kong.
First came the NSL. Then a revamp of the election system. Democrats were arrested and prosecuted en masse. Dozens of them are either in jail after being convicted of other charges or are being held in custody.
On the media front, it is hardly surprising the government-run Radio Television Hong Kong and the Apple Daily have emerged as the immediate targets of a clampdown on press freedom.
The swiftness and ruthlessness of the use of harsh laws and powers have caught many by surprise.
Government officials have sought to allay fears among journalists by saying those who are engaged in “normal journalist work” have nothing to fear.
Speaking at a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, chief executive Carrie Lam rejected criticism that the move was a suppression of press freedom, but ducked the question “what is normal journalist work?”
“I think you are in a better position to answer that question,” she told reporters.
With the NSL taking effect nearly one year ago on 30 June 2020, Lam gave a clear message that they will not soften their approach in upholding national security, at least in the foreseeable future. “We won’t let this law be treated as if it doesn’t exist.”
With Apple Daily closing down, journalists have begun to ask “who’s next?”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
