Belarus closes journalist organisation in latest move to suppress critical reporting

The Supreme Court’s order to liquidate the Belarusian Association of Journalists follows the jailing of some 30 journalists and raids on newspaper offices.

Belarus has ordered the closure of the country’s largest independent journalists’ organisation, the latest move by authorities to suppress critical reporting in a year-long crackdown on dissent. The August 27 order by the country’s Supreme Court to liquidate the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) follows the jailing of some 30 journalists, raids on newspaper offices, blocking the websites of major independent media and closing the PEN Centre writers’ organisation that was headed by Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexieveich. Belarus also cancelled accreditation for foreign news organisations after massive protests began in August 2020 following presidential elections that official but disputed results say gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. Mr. Lukashenko has led the former Soviet republic since 1994.