Belarus Blocks Nasha Niva Website, Detains Editor-in-Chief

The security officers of the Main Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption of Belarus conducted searches in the editorial office of the Nasha Niva media outlet. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, searches were also conducted at homes of outlet employees. Editor-in-chief Yegor Martinovich was detained.

Currently, the website of Nasha Niva, nn.by, is inaccessible both in Belarus and from abroad.

“Based on the notification by the Prosecutor General’s Office in connection with publication of information, the dissemination of which is prohibited by Paragraph 1 of Article 38 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On Mass Media,’ the Ministry of Information decided to restrict access to the Internet resource nn.by,” the Ministry of Information of Belarus informed.

Earlier, the biggest opposition resource TUT.BY deleted from its website and social networks publications for the past year, half due to pressure from the authorities. In mid-May, the portal was blocked in Belarus, and the editors were searched. As a result, at least 15 of them were detained.

In addition, the Euroradio correspondent office in Belarus was closed, and the prosecutor’s office of the Belarusian city of Hrodna asks the court to recognise Hrodna.life Telegram channel as extremist.

Natalia Tolub