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Belarusian Association of Journalists nominated for UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Prize

16.02.2022

On 15 February 2022, joined by forty-five other countries, including all EU member states, Poland put the Belarusian Association of Journalists forward for UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. Many non-governmental organisations supporting journalists in their work across the globe also endorsed the nomination. Poland was in the group of countries that launched the initiative at UNESCO.

UNESCO

Acting on behalf of other EU member states and like-minded countries, France submitted the nomination in its capacity as the country that currently holds the presidency of the Council of the EU.

The nomination is an expression of solidarity with all the journalists and media professionals who have been making an enormous sacrifice by putting their safety and lives at stake to report on violations of human rights and fundamental civil liberties in Belarus. It aims to give credit to their work so far, and to take a stand internationally in clear opposition to the notorious infringements of human rights by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.

According to international reports, Belarus ranks first in the world as regards the ratio of the number of arrested and detained journalists to the country’s population. Based on data from the Belarusian Association of Journalists, 113 journalists and media professionals were apprehended there while at work in 2021. As of the end of 2021, still kept in pre-trial detention or in prison were 32 people, including Andrzej Poczobut, a leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus. In August 2021, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus ruled to suspend the Belarusian Association of Journalists from its activity.

The nomination is a token of struggle for free media and freedom of speech worldwide.

Established in 1997, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is meant for individuals, organisations or institutions of outstanding merit in promoting freedom of the press and of speech across the world, especially in places where journalists work under heavy pressure, putting their safety and lives at risk. The Prize was named after Guillermo Cano, a Colombian journalist assassinated in front of the “El Espectador” newspaper offices in Bogota on 17 December 1986. The laureates include Maria Ressa of the Philippines (2021), Jineth Bedoya of Columbia (2020), Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone of Myanmar (2019), Mahmoud Abu Zeid of Egypt (2018), Dawit Isaak of Eritrea (2017), Khadija Ismayilova of Azerbaijan (2016), and Mazen Darwish of Syria (2015).

As a custom, the Prize is presented by UNESCO’s Director-General on World Press Freedom Day, celebrated each year on 3 May.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson

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