Belarus’s Yuliya Slutskaya named World Press Freedom Hero
The International Press Institute today named Yuliya Slutskaya was named the institute's 72 nd World Press Freedom Hero.
Slutskaya, the founder of Press Club Belarus, and several members of her staff were jailed on trumped-up tax evasion charges as part of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko regime's crackdown on press freedom and freedom of expression, according to the IPI website.
She and four colleagues were released after eight months of pre-trial detention in August.
Slutskaya's career as a journalist has spanned nearly 30 years.
Today IPI and @forfreemedia are honoured to name Yuliya Slutskaya, chairperson of Press Club Belarus, as our 2021 World Press Freedom Hero.
Yuliya is a beacon of independent journalism amid Belarus's attacks on the press.
https://t.co/F1mxutOxsr #IPIWoCo pic.twitter.com/FaEg0Hm8cu
— IPI - The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) September 7, 2021
Following a wave of repression resulting from the 2010 Belarusian presidential elections, she left for Warsaw to found the Belarus in Focus Information Office, which provides analysis and expert commentary on social and political developments in Belarus.
In 2011, she established the Belarus Press Club while living in exile in Warsaw. After conditions improved in Belarus, Slutskaya was able to move the Press Club's operations to Minsk in late 2015.
A central meeting place for Belarusian and international journalists, the Press Club was dedicated to promoting high journalistic standards and incubating media innovation through events, networking, training, masterclasses, media monitoring, and dialogue, the IPI website said.
"One of our core objectives is to be a platform open for all. A meeting place where we, in line with our mission, aspire to facilitate communication and build trust," Slutskaya had said in 2019.
In 2020, a new wave of unrest and protests followed what was seen as a fraudulent re-election of Lukashenko, and that unleashed a new wave of state terror against Belarusian dissidents and journalists, the website said.
Nearly 500 journalists and media workers have been victims of state repression, with 28 still behind bars as of today.
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