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March 21, 2025 – General –
When journalists are imprisoned for doing their jobs, society loses not just its storytellers but its truth-bearers. In her impassioned piece, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya paints a haunting portrait of her country’s silenced press, calling on the world to defend the fundamental right to free speech. Her words echo like a warning bell: Belarus is now Europe’s leading jailer of journalists, and each arrest is another step toward a voiceless, blindfolded society.
Journalists in Belarus today face persecution not for distorting the truth, but for daring to tell it. Dozens have been imprisoned, many driven into exile, and countless more censored or threatened. Tsikhanouskaya reveals the cruelty and absurdity of the regime’s tactics—confiscating property, detaining family members, and subjecting reporters to grueling interrogations. She highlights how even basic reporting, such as covering the crash of a Russian drone in Khoiniki, has become a radical act. While state media remained silent, independent journalists stepped up, often at great personal cost.
The message is clear: the regime fears accountability more than anything else. Journalists, as Tsikhanouskaya asserts, are the “fourth estate”—the last line of defense between authoritarianism and freedom. Their imprisonment is not just a loss for media circles but a direct assault on civil society. Without them, who will ask the uncomfortable questions? Who will challenge the official narrative?
Her plea is not just for Belarus. It’s a call to the global community: support independent journalism wherever it is threatened. Stand by those who risk everything to inform the public. Because once freedom of speech is dismantled, democracy itself begins to decay.
The article closes with a somber but resolute truth: when reporters are silenced, society loses its voice. If the world turns away from Belarus’ silenced press, it sends a signal to all regimes that censorship is a tolerable price for power. And if that happens, the silence won’t stop at Belarus’ borders.
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