Friday, 28 August 2020

Lukashenko has launched a 26-year war on freedoms in Belarus

Photo: Jana Shnipelson/Unsplash

When pictures emerged last week of President Alexander Lukashenko wielding an assault rifle as he arrived in Minsk to greet riot police and guards the world was shocked. But this latest show of aggression is just par for the course with Belarus' leader. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 "with an iron fist" writes Orna Herr this week in a post that lays out the background behind the current upheaval and how he has set about from day one dismantling basic freedoms.

"Belarus is the last country in Europe which still uses the death penalty, and many forms of freedom of expression are tightly governed. The state controls the media to the extent that Belarus is ranked at 153 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, one of the lowest rankings in the world, not just in Europe. How did a country, freed from the grips of Soviet Union and starting afresh with a new constitution, end up ruled by a man internationally dubbed as “the last dictator in Europe”?" Herr writes.

Read more about the history of Belarus and of Lukashenko's rule here.

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Scotland's hate crime bill would stifle free expression in the country

"The legislative language is so vague that someone could be charged with a criminal offence (with a maximum seven-year prison tariff) if an individual’s actions were deemed to be insulting or offensive, with no consideration of the intent behind the action. Comedians could face criminal proceedings for insulting their audiences, commentators for exploring issues of gender or even for discussing religion," says Index CEO Ruth Smeeth of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, which is currently working its way through the Scottish Parliament.

Smeeth says that if the bill passes unamended Scotland would no longer have free speech and it would set a terrible precedent for the rest of the UK.

Index are actively opposing the bill and have this week joined the Free to Disagree campaign, which brings together individuals and organisations to urge the Scottish parliament to scrap, or at least heavily amend, the bill.

Read more about the bill here.

Hong Kong Free Press journalist denied visa

Irish journalist Aaron Mc Nicholas has had his working visa denied by Hong Kong authorities to work at Hong Kong Free Press. The media outlet, who often report on censorship in the city, were shortlisted for this year's Index award for journalism. Mc Nicholas is already based in Hong Kong and was hired as an editor at HKFP. But the immigration department rejected his visa application after an almost six-month wait, without giving any official reason.

This is believed to be the first time Hong Kong immigration has rejected a journalist’s work visa for a local title and takes place against a backdrop of journalist arrests, intimidation and reports of delays with visa applications from foreign journalists. Editor-in-chief Tom Grundy believes they were "targeted under the climate of the new security law".

Read more about the law and what it means for freedoms in the city here.

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