Liderii sindicatelor şi asociaţiilor jurnaliştilor din Europa au elaborat o scrisoare deschisă prin care își exprimă profunda îngrijorare cu privire la intensificarea represiunii în Belarus. Apelul trimis șefilor de Stat și de Guvern europeni pe 25 martie nu a fost întâmplătoare, aceasta fiind Ziua Libertăţii în Belarus, când opoziţia se adună anual în număr mare pentru a onora proclamarea Republicii Populare Belaruse în 1918.

Astăzi, există peste 250 de prizonieri politici în Belarus, dintre care 11 jurnalişti. Şi acesta este doar vârful aisbergului, se consideră în apelul lansat de jurnaliștii din toată Europa. De la alegerile prezidenţiale frauduloase din 9 august 2020, se estimează că peste 30.000 de persoane (inclusiv 480 de jurnalişti) au fost reţinuţi, mulţi dintre aceştia fiind supuşi torturii şi maltratării, iar alte peste 1.000 de persoane sunt vizate de dosare penale.

Șefii de Stat și Guvern sunt îndemnați să solicite autorităţilor din Belarus eliberarea imediată a celor 11 jurnalişti închişi, retragerea procedurilor administrative şi penale împotriva jurnaliştilor din Belarus şi redeschiderea clubului de presă din Minsk.

Jurnaliștii mai cer ca fiecare stat din Europa să facă apel la Naţiunile Unite, OSCE, Consiliul Europei şi Uniunea Europeană, astfel încât comunitatea internaţională să intensifice presiunea şi să ia măsuri în faţa încălcărilor constante ale drepturilor omului şi a libertăţii presei în Belarus.

Semnatari

• Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, 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 Generale des Journalistes Professionnels de Belgique (AGJPB), Belgium
• Pol Deltour, National Secretary of the Belgische / Vlaamse Vereniging van Journalisten (VVJ/AVBB), Belgium
• Borka Rudic, 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
• CagdasOguc, Secretary of International Relations of Basin-Sen, Cyprus
• Adam Cerny, President of the Syndicate of Journalists of Czech Republic, Czechia
• 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 Secretaire general du Syndicat national des journalistes (SNJ), France
• Emmanuel Vire, General Secretary of Syndicat national de journalistes CGT (SNJ-CGT), France
• Frank Uberall, President of the Deutscher Journalisten-Verband (DJV), Germany
• Monique Hofmann, Bundesgeschaftsfuhrerin, 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
• Laszlo 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 Radzevicius, President of the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union (LĹ˝S), 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 Skowronski, 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 Pădureţ, President of the Federation Culture & Mass-Media FAIR-MediaSind, Romania
• Cristinel Godinac, President of the Romanian Trade Union of Journalists MediaSind, Romania
• Vladimir Radomirovic, President of the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (JAS-UNS), Serbia
• Zeljko Bodrozic, President of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS-NUNS), Serbia
• Dragana Cabarkapa, President of the Journalist Union of Serbia (Sinos), Serbia
• Daniel Modrovsky, President of Slovensky Syndikat Novinarov (SSN), Slovakia
• Petra Lesjak Tusek, President of the Slovene Association of Journalists (DNS), Slovenia
• Nemesio Rodriguez, President of the FederaciĂłn de Asociaciones de Periodistas de Espana (FAPE), Spain
• Marta Barcenilla Escano, 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
• Ozge Yurttaş, General Secretary of DISK Basin Iş, 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), United Kingdom