Reporters Without Borders Urge ICC to Include Persecution of Journalists in Lukashenka Probe

The organization Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the Lukashenka regime and called for the systematic persecution of journalists to be included in the probe. The organization recalled that it had already submitted a corresponding complaint to the ICC in January 2025.

With the assistance of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders documented 589 cases of arbitrary arrests of independent journalists, some of whom remain behind bars. The complaint describes mass arrests, violence, raids, the closure of newsrooms, forced video confessions and censorship. The forced exile of journalists — mainly to Poland and Lithuania — is classified by the organization as a crime against humanity in the category of forced population displacement.

The statement also mentioned videos broadcast on Belarusian television showing journalists from Radio Svaboda — Ihar Karnei, Ihar Losik and Andrej Kuznechyk — who were forced under pressure to express regret over their professional activities.