Stories about Belarus
Cats, crows and planet Earth: drawings by Belarusian political prisoners
Drawings sent to friends and family by Belarusian political prisoners, detained in a crackdown after the 2020 elections, provide an insight into their lives.
Georgian-Belarusian security cooperation deal worries political emigres in Georgia
A year after disputed presidential elections in Belarus, a Georgian-Belarusian security cooperation agreement has come into force. Critics fear the treaty could help Minsk target political dissidents residing in Georgia.
Belarus court labels independent media outlets Tut.by, Zerkalo.io as ‘extremist’
The ruling applies to every single piece of content on the Tut.by and Zerkalo.io websites, as well as to all content posted on their social media channels.
State escalates attacks on media freedom and civil society in Belarus
Since the start of July, dozens of civil society organisations and independent media outlets in Belarus have faced law enforcement raids, searches and staff detentions.
Top Belarusian media website removes social media posts to protect employees
Tut.by editors removed virtually all of the content published on most of their social media channels in 2020 and the first half of 2021, at the height of the post-election protests.
Belarus grounds Ryanair flight, detains independent journalist amid regime's crackdown on media
Pratasevich was formerly an administrator of NEXTA-Live, the Telegram channel covering the anti-government protests in Belarus. He is currently editor-in-chief of Belarus Golovnogo Mozga, another independent media outlet.
Israeli phone hacking firm stops sales to Belarus and Russia
Cellebrite, an Israeli software company known for making tools used to extract data from smartphones, has announced it will halt sales to Russian and Belarus state bodies and law enforcement.
Bloggers, journalists and creatives in the crosshairs of the Belarusian state
As the space for free expression in Belarus narrows, many journalists and artists who covered the protests are awaiting trial.
How global tech companies enable the Belarusian regime — and the Belarusian revolution
Belarus has globalised enough for its rulers to be undermined if western technology becomes less accessible, but also globalised enough to reorient itself to larger markets in the East
Belarus shuts down internet as thousands protest election results
As Alexander Lukashenka won a sixth consecutive term as president on August 10, Belarusians across the country faced difficulties getting online. Digital rights activists blame the authorities; the authorities blame foreigners.
Travel Blogger Faces Eight Years in Azerbaijan Prison Over Nagorno-Karabakh Visits and Posts
One blogger, three passports and the intricate international relations of the Caucasus region. This gets pretty complicated.
Russian Police Lose an Easy Way to Trap ‘Internet Extremists’
On Tuesday, by revising one of its default privacy settings, the Russian social network Vkontakte significantly reduced the number of shared photographs publicly visible on individual account pages.
Belarus Moves to Block Tor in Fight Against Online Anonymity
Belarus is ramping up efforts to crack down on Tor. But does Minsk actually have the ability to block the anonymity network?
Internet Freedom Declines in Russia and Ukraine, Improves in Belarus
Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian states were all rated "not free" in Freedom House's 2016 "Freedom on the Web" report.
Belarus Tightens Grip on Internet With New Data Retention Decree
The new data retention demands are just the latest in a string of restrictive Internet measures employed by Belarus in the wake of the next presidential election.
Belarus Bans Tor and Other Anonymizers
Belarus is banning anonymizers, typically used to circumvent government censorship and reach online resources banned inside the country, including many of the opposition websites.
The Dress Rehearsal for the Belarusian Crackdown
"Belaruskaya Pravda" chief editor Yuri Dubina says the recent crackdown in Belarus on independent online media is only "the dress rehearsal" before the presidential election this November.
Hostages of Realpolitik: EU Wouldn’t Notice New Belarusan Prisoners of Conscience
A video is now being circulated by bloggers on the Internet in order to attract attention to the fate of Belarusan prisoner of conscience Mikalaj Autuchovic who is dying in custody. It is the EU approach to Belarusan regime that that may silence him for good. Mikalaj Autuchovic, Jury Lavonau...
Belarus: Bloggers Helped Reinstating Teacher Fired by the British Company Branch on Political Ground
Bloggers in Belarusan Internet (ByNet) has launched an extensive campaign to reinstate a teacher of English Marjana Hruździłovič which had been fired from the Belarusan SOL Language Centre that acts at permission and under license of the non-governmental organization ‘SOL. Sharing One Language' funded by the UK government. The reason for the teacher's dismissal had been her objection to the remark of one of the students who said occasionally in a class that the celebration of Belarusan Freedom Day on March 25th is attended by ‘idiots and degenerates'.
Belarus: The Blast, the Arrests, and Bloggers’ Solidarity
A week ago, a homemade bomb packed with bolts and screws tore through a crowd of thousands of people who had gathered for the Independence Day all-night concert near the World War II monument in central Minsk. The blast occurred around 12:30 a.m on July 4; some 54 people were wounded; Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko happened to be nearby when the bomb went off, but was not hurt.
