Updated: 07/08/202114:24
The Belarusian authorities have blocked access to another independent online news portal.
“Nascha Niwa” is accused of publishing illegal content, the Ministry of Information announced on Thursday. Since the historic mass protests against the government last year, the Belarusian authorities have taken massive action against media that are not controlled by the state.
There was a police operation in the editorial office of the portal critical of the government, said the human rights organization Wjasna, citing eyewitnesses. The editors said on the Telegram messenger service that they could no longer reach several employees, including editor-in-chief Yegor Martinowitsch. According to his wife Adariah Gushtyn on Facebook, he was arrested.
Read Also
- Almeida tries to play a joke on Piqué and he ditch it quickly: “It’s going to be no” May 28, 2021
- League Cup 2021: The premier schedule for the new Argentine soccer tournament Feb 5, 2021
- SBU held in the Black sea anti-terror exercise. Photo Jul 10, 2020
- Finistère: A man dies after his car falls into a river Dec 19, 2022
- Sharon Stone in tears: grandson dead Aug 31, 2021
- Suspects in the assassination of Haitian president turned out to be former US informers Jul 13, 2021
- Branko horoscope, today 20 August 2021 Aug 20, 2021
The editor-in-chief of the independent news website orsha.eu, Igor Kasmerchaka, has also been arrested, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In addition, access to the IT online magazine dev.by was blocked.
The head of state Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for almost three decades, was officially declared the winner after the election in August 2020 despite massive allegations of fraud. This triggered historic mass protests that were brutally suppressed by the security forces.
Journalists who reported on the demonstrations have come under increasing pressure in recent months. Several media workers were sentenced to long prison terms. The independent news portal Tut.by was also taken offline in May and several of its employees were arrested on charges of tax evasion. At the end of May, exiled blogger Roman Protassewitsch was arrested after a forced plane landing in Minsk.
noe / cp