The recent arrests of Belarusian journalists Ihar Ilyash (Ігар Уладзіміравіч Ільяш), on 22 October 2024 and Daniil Palianski, sometimes in English also written Palyanski (Данііл Палянскі) on 19 September 2024 highlight the persistent crackdown on press freedom under President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko’s (Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко) regime.
Ilyash, born 1988, a journalist and the husband of the since 2020 detained Belsat TV (Белсат – en.belsat.eu) reporter Katsiaryna Andreyeva Bakhvalova (Кацярына Андрэеўна Бахвалава), was taken into custody, with authorities releasing a video of him “confessing” to having provided commentary to Belsat. In the video, Ilyash says that until July 2021, he was an employee of the Belsat TV channel, after that he became a freelance journalist.. Ilyash has previously refused to leave Belarus, vowing to stay as long as his wife remains imprisoned. His photo in handcuffs was published by pro-government Telegram channels. He is not arrested for the first time. in 2020, Ilyash was arrested for 15 days and in July 2021, he was again detained for 15 days.
Palianski, a freelancer, was detained under suspicion of “state treason” shortly after returning from a family visit to Russia. He was allegedly stopped by Russian security forces in the beginning of September this year in a car and charged with an administrative infraction for disobedience. He allegedly refused to present his personal ID card. Palianski was subsequently detained by Belarusian authorities upon his arrival in Brest (Брэст), Belarus, his hometown. Details of Palianski’s case remain vague, though his former work with independent and state-owned media outlets likely made him a target. In 2020 he was arrested for one day and convicted by the court for the violation of procedure on mass gatherings. The court fined him in 2020 with 810 BYN (295 EUR), and released him from the jail.
This ongoing repression of independent media has intensified since the 2020-2021 protests, with independent outlets in Belarus forced into exile and labeled as “extremist” organizations. Both Ilyash and Andreyeva worked with Belsat TV, which was branded “extremist” in 2021. They also co-authored Belarusian Donbas (Белорусский Донбасс), a book documenting Belarusians involved on both sides of the Ukraine conflict, which was banned in Belarus and deemed “extremist material” by authorities. Ilyash’s outspoken stance, particularly in relation to Belarus’s involvement in Ukraine, made him a prominent target for government repression.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns the recent arrests of Belarusian journalists Ihar Ilyash and Daniil Palianski as blatant attempts by Belarusian authorities to intimidate and silence independent media voices. These detentions, alongside the forced “confession” from Ilyash, are part of a sustained campaign of harassment targeting journalists and media workers, especially those critical of Belarus’s government or reporting on sensitive topics like the war in Ukraine. SEEMO calls for the immediate release of Ilyash, Palianski, and all media professionals imprisoned for their work, urging the Belarusian government to end its assault on press freedom and allow journalists to operate without fear of repression.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non profit network of editors, media executives andleading journalists in Southeast, South,East and Central Europe. SEEMOmembers are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria),Montenegro, NorthMacedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine andUzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and SanMarino have a special statusin SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members,and additional mediaas corporate members.
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