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Two journalists arrested following Chernobyl anniversary march to stand trial of charges of disobedience to police

Radio Racyja, a Polish-based radio station, has issued a statement protesting the arrest of its two reporters in Minsk on Friday night following the “Charnobylski Shlyakh” (Path of Chernobyl) demonstration, an annual event staged by opposition and environmental groups to mark the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Radio Racyja demands the immediate release of the journalists, stressing that they were performing their professional duties when they were arrested.

Messrs. Henadz Barbarych and Alyaksandr Yarashevich are being held in a detention center in Minsk and are expected to stand trial on Monday on charges of disobedience to police.

“Radio Racyja is an independent media outlet that spreads unbiased and accurate information,” the statement says. “It is not the first time that journalists of our radio station have been hindered in their work. Our reporters are subjected to persecution. Many of them have received warnings from prosecutor’s offices and the KGB for work in the territory of the Republic of Belarus without accreditation.”

Radio Racyja stresses that it has repeatedly applied for accreditation but the application was turned down on each occasion.

“We call on all independent media outlets, pro-democracy parties and organizations and individuals to express solidarity with our detained colleagues,” says the statement, signed by Radio Racyja President Eugeniusz Wappa (Yawhen Vapa).

Based in Bialystok, Radio Racyja has been broadcasting to Belarus since 1999.

In August last year, Mr. Barbarych was summoned to the Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office and formally warned that it was inadmissible for journalists to work in Belarus for a foreign media outlet without accreditation. //BelaPAN