Belarus: CFWIJ condemns the travel restriction imposed on Inessa Studzinskaya by state authorities

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August 4, 2021- Journalist Inessa Studzinskaya, affiliated with Radio Svaboda, was restricted from leaving the country. Inessa discovered the travel ban against her after finding her name on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website. The radio journalist, along with two of her colleagues, was detained on July 26. According to reports, the authorities searched their homes and destroyed the network’s editorial offices in Minsk. CFWIJ condemns the persistent impediments to press freedom in the country. We have repeatedly demanded action to ensure a safe and fair environment for women journalists in Belarus. 

Inessa and her fellow radio journalists, Aleh Hruzdzilovich and Ales Dashchynski, spent ten days in a detention center in Akrestsin Street. To protest her incarceration, the journalist went on a hunger strike for nine days. Upon finding her name on the travel ban list, she did not receive any information or explanation from law enforcement authorities regarding the restriction. 

While none of the detainees, including Inessa, were charged, they remained suspects under article 342 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that organizing or preparing an action that violates public order or actively participating in them are crimes punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.  

Belarus has become one of the most challenging countries when evaluating threats to press freedom. On August 2, CFWIJ reported the case of Nasta Pilyugina, a blogger and podcast host who was detained on July 29 with her boyfriend after police searched her residence. Her whereabouts after her arrest remain unknown. 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands the Ministry of Internal Affairs to remove Inessa’s name from the travel restriction list. We believe her detention was unjustified and purely an intimidation tactic to target her journalistic work. CFWIJ has created a detailed report on Belarus that consists of several cases of press freedom violations against women journalists.