Kristina Rikhter, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's advisor on legal issues, commented on the recognition of the Belarusian Association of Journalists as an 'extremist formation':
“Today, on March 7, the regime was reported to have recognized the Belarusian Association of Journalists as an 'extremist formation'. The decision was made by the KGB on February 28. This is the first time that a major organization – one of the oldest human rights organizations in Belarus, founded in 1995, with over 1300 members – has been added to the 'extremist' list. But this is not the first time the regime has called people helping Belarusians defend their rights an 'extremist formation'.
Back in 2021, the Supreme Court stripped the BAJ of its registration at the request of the Ministry of Justice. But the organization continues its activities to this day, and for more than 30 years it has been defending the rights of both journalists and Belarusians to information and freedom of opinion.
The BAJ is a member of the International and European Federations of Journalists and the laureate of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize.
But what is especially important for me to note is that BAJ is an organization that let me personally gain very important experience in human rights work and an understanding of the main rights, freedoms, and values of the democratic world.
The status of an 'extremist formation' is a vivid testimony to how the regime treats both the human rights community and the independent media sector. What they cannot control, they find it easier to criminalize. Instead of dialogue and solving the problems of society, they initiate another criminal case.
I hope that such a status from those who call themselves the authorities of Belarus will not affect the effective work of BAJ and its members in promoting human rights in our country”.
