More than 60 searches took place in the Belarusian media and their employees in 10 days

In less than two weeks, the Belarusian security forces conducted more than 60 searches in the media and their employees, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ). “Over the past 10 days, 63 searches have taken place in the editorial offices and apartments of journalists. In total, since the beginning of the year – 107, ”the association said in a statement. leads Interfax.

According to the BAJ, 34 media representatives are now in custody. So, on Sunday it became known about the repeated arrest of Yegor Martinovich, editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Nasha Niva. The BAJ reported this with reference to his wife, journalist Adarya Gushtyn. “On July 18, Martinovic’s 10-day detention period ended. He was detained under Art. 342 . Within 10 days he was not charged. Today they were not released, but detained for the second time under a new article of the Criminal Code. On which one, the investigator refused to tell, ”Adarya Gushtyn said.

The Investigative Committee of Belarus explained the searches in the media and in non-governmental organizations by the fact that they were allegedly involved in shady financial schemes.

On July 14 alone, security officials visited the offices of 23 non-governmental organizations. Searches took place not only in Minsk, but also in Grodno, Brest, Orsha, Borisov, Gomel, Polotsk. Prior to this, the Belarusian authorities banned access to one of the country’s oldest news resources, the website of the Nasha Niva publication. The same ban was adopted in relation to the country’s most popular news portal TUT.by.