OSCE media freedom representative protests jailing of journalist in Minsk

VIENNA, 11 January 2012 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, condemned today the sentencing of Ales Barazenka, an independent Belarusian cameraman, to 11 days’ imprisonment for "participating in an unsanctioned event".

“Belarus continues to prevent journalists from covering public protests. The Government should allow journalists to cover any political event, whether officially sanctioned or not, for the sake of society’s right to know,” said Mijatović. “I call on the authorities to release Barazenka and stop harassing him and other journalists.”

She reiterated her concern about the “constant harassment that many… journalists suffer in the wake of the unfortunate events a year ago”, expressed in her 19 December 2011 letter to Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov.

Barazenka was detained while filming a one-man protest outside of the KGB headquarters in Minsk on 8 January and sentenced the following day. On several prior occasions, he was briefly detained and questioned by police and the KGB, his apartment was searched and his computer confiscated.