During the night of 19 to 20 March, six Belarusian media professionals were pardoned alongside nearly 250 political prisoners as part of a diplomatic agreement negotiated between the United States and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes these releases but warns that repression of journalists is far from over in Belarus.
The latest major wave of political prisoner releases is the fourth of its kind to have taken place in Belarus in the past year. Katsiaryna Andreyeva (Bakhvalava), who was arrested in November 2020 while covering a protest for Belsat TV and later sentenced to 10 years in prison after two trials, was expelled to Lithuania immediately after her release, as was blogger Eduard Palchys. Other pardoned media professionals include freelance journalist Aleh Suprunyuk, former BelaPAN director Dzmitry Navazhylau, media analyst Valeryia Kastsiuhova and Belsat TV cameraman Ales Marchanka. The release of all the pardoned journalists is yet to be confirmed.
“RSF welcomes the release of arbitrarily detained journalists. But this must not obscure the bigger picture: that they should never have been imprisoned in the first place. We call for the immediate release of the 22 media professionals who are still detained in the country and stress that occasional pardons cannot replace justice.
During previous US-mediated negotiations in 2025, two journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were released in August, followed by nine others in September, and TUT.BY editor-in-chief Maryna Zolatava in December.
But practising independent journalism remains a crime in the eyes of the regime. Since late February, at least four media professionals have been convicted, including three who received long prison sentences. Naviny.by journalist Pavel Dabravolski was sentenced to nine years in prison for “high treason.” Editors Uladzimir Yanukevich and Andrei Pakalenka were sentenced to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively. Aleh Khamienka was also sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly extremist activities. The co-laureate of the Sakharov Prize, Andrzej Poczobut, is still behind bars.
Since the peaceful protests of 2020 and the crackdown that followed, the situation for independent media outlets in Belarus has significantly deteriorated. Journalists are regularly arrested and most have been forced into exile in order to continue their work. On 12 March, the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into crimes against humanity committed by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, notably after RSF filed a complaint in January 2025 concerning the regime’s systematic targeting of journalists.
Belarus ranks 166th out of 180 countries and territories in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index. The NGO updates its gallery of media professionals currently imprisoned in the country in real time.
