Today we are all witnessing the deliberate “murder” of media and the independent portal TUT.by. For 20 years, it has been committed to reporting honest news to Belarusians and is an example of an independent press. Many feared that this would happen, but it is a different feeling when you witness the successive destruction of freedom. A group of people who hold power in Belarus is the real occupation regime: they kill media, kill political parties and civic communities, and kill us – on the streets and in prisons.
My team and I are already in touch with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. We call for an urgent EU response, an urgent launch of a support program for independent media, protection of journalists, and help them continue work despite the repressions. We insist that sanctions should be imposed on all those responsible for the repressions against Belarusian editors, journalists, and bloggers.
