January 3, 2017

03/01/2017: BELARUS – SEEMO CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THREE BELARUS BLOGGERS

Vienna, 03/01/2017

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) called on authorities in Belarus to immediately release thee bloggers held in detention for the past three weeks because of their critical views of the government.

Editor of Novaya Ekonomika magazine Syarhey Shyptenska, school supervisor Dzimitry Alimkin, and university professor Yury Paulavets were imprisoned by Belarus authorities after criticizing the government’s alleged “Russophobic” inclinations.

All three are facing up to 12 years of jail time, based on their charges of supposedly “inciting racial hatred”, by posting content of Russian news websites.