Journalists leaders stand up for Belarus media
More than 50 leaders of journalists’ unions and associations across Europe have today written to European governments and heads of state to express their deep concerns about the intensification of repression in Belarus.
The initiative has been organised by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) to mark Freedom Day in Belarus on Thursday 25 March.
There are currently 12 journalists in jail in Belarus and since the elections on 9 August 2020 there have been 480 journalists detained.
Journalists' leaders are asking governments and heads of state across Europe to -
- Call on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release of the 12 imprisoned journalists, withdraw the administrative and criminal proceedings against them and enable the reopening of the Minsk press club
- Appeal to the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Union to intensify the pressure on the authorities in Belarus to bring about an adherence to basic standards of human rights and press freedom.
The NUJ in the UK and Ireland has asked its members to write to the journalists currently in jail.
Media union leaders calling on their government to act include:
- Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
- Andrei Bastunets, President of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), Belarus
- Eike-Clemens Kullmann, President of the Journalistengewerkschaft in der GPA-djp (GPA-djp), Austria
- Mushfig Alasgarli, Chairman of the Journalist's Trade Union of Azerbaijan (JUHI), Azerbaijan
- Martine Simonis, General Secretary of the Association des Journalistes Professionnels (AJP) and National Secretary of the Association Générale des Journalistes Professionnels de Belgique (AGJPB), Belgium
- Pol Deltour, National Secretary of the Belgische / Vlaamse Vereniging van Journalisten (VVJ/AVBB), Belgium
- Borka Rudić, Secretary General of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Journalists Association (BHJA), Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Maja Sever, President of the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists (TUCJ), Croatia
- Hrvoje Zovko, President of the Croatia Journalists’ Association (CJA), Croatia
- George Frangos, President of the Union of Cyprus Journalists (UCJ), Cyprus
- Çağdaş Öğüç, Secretary of International Relations of Basın-Sen, Cyprus
- Adam Černý, President of the Syndicate of Journalists of Czech Republic
- Tine Johansen, President of the Danish Union of Journalists (DJ), Denmark
- Helle Tiikmaa, President of the Estonian Union of Journalists (EAL), Estonia
- Hanne Aho, President of the Union of Journalists in Finland, Finland
- Emmanuel Poupard, Premier Secrétaire général du Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ), France
- Emmanuel Vire, General Secretary of Syndicat national de journalistes CGT (SNJ-CGT), France
- Frank Überall, President of the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV), Germany
- Monique Hofmann, Bundesgeschäftsführerin, Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union (dju) in ver.di, Germany
- Maria Antoniadou, President of the Journalists Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN), Greece
- Elena Rizeakou, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists’ Union (PFJU), Greece
- Nikolaos Karras, President of the Journalists Union of Macedonia and Thrace (ESIEMTH), Greece
- Themistoklis Beredimas, President of the Periodical and Electronic Press Union (P.E.P.U), Greece
- László M. Lengyel, Executive Chairman of the Hungarian Press Union (HPU), Hungary
- Raffaele Lorusso, General Secretary of the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI), Italy
- Anna Del Freo, Deputy General Secretary of the FNSI, Italy
- Dainius Radzevičius, President of the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union (LŽS), Lithuania
- Ines Kurschat, President of the Association Luxembourgeoise des Journalistes Professionnels (ALJP), Luxembourg
- Nigel Mifsud, General Secretary of the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), Malta
- Renske Heddema, President of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (NVJ), The Netherlands
- Dag Idar Tryggestad, President of the Norwegian Union of Journalists, Norway
- Krzysztof Skowroński, President of the Polish Association of Journalists (SDP), Poland
- Seweryn Blumsztajn, President of the Society of Journalists, Poland
- Sofia Branco, President of Sindicato dos Jornalistas (SJ), Portugal
- Leonard Octavian Pădureț, President of the Federation Culture & Mass-Media FAIR-MediaSind, Romania
- Cristinel Godinac, President of the Romanian Trade Union of Journalists MediaSind, Romania
- Vladimir Radomirović, President of the Journalists' Association of Serbia (JAS-UNS), Serbia
- Zeljko Bodrozic, President of the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (IJAS-NUNS), Serbia
- Dragana Čabarkapa, President of the Journalist Union of Serbia (Sinos), Serbia
- Daniel Modrovsky, President of Slovensky Syndikat Novinarov (SSN), Slovakia
- Petra Lesjak Tušek, President of the Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS), Slovenia
- Nemesio Rodríguez, President of the Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas de España (FAPE), Spain
- Marta Barcenilla Escaño, Institutional Secretary of the Federal Executive Committee of FSC-CCOO, Spain
- Mariano Rivero Puche, Coordinator of AgP-UGT (FeSMC-UGT), Spain
- Ulrika Hyllert, President of the Swedish Journalists’ Union (SJ), Sweden
- Dr. Franca Siegfried, President of impressum, Swiss Journalists’ Federatuion, Switzerland
- Stephanie Vonarburg, Vice-President of syndicom, Switzerland
- Mustafa Kuleli, General Secretary of Turkiye Gazeteciler Sendikasi (TGS), Turkey
- Yusuf Kanli, Vice-Chairman of Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Dernegi (GCD), Turkey
- Özge Yurttaş, General Secretary of DİSK Basın İş, Turkey
- Sergiy Tomilenko, President of the National Union of journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Ukraine
- Serhiy Shturkhetskyy, Chairman of the Independent Media Trade-Union of Ukraine (IMTUU), Ukraine
- Michelle Stanistreet, National Union of Journalists General Secretary (NUJ), UK and Ireland