Press Freedom
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Reporter Without Borders
OPC Condemns Arrest of Press Club Staff in Belarus
The Overseas Press Club of America denounces the detention of five staff members of Press Club Belarus on charges of tax evasion.
Julia Slutskaya, founder and president of the club, and four other staff members were arrested on Dec. 22 and the club’s offices were searched and closed. The homes of those arrested were also searched.
Press Club Belarus and the OPC are members of the International Association of Press Clubs (IAPC). Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk, secretary of the IAPC, said the government of Alexander Lukashenko yesterday extended the group’s detention by 10 days to Jan. 7.
“Lawyers are taking all possible steps to ensure their immediate release. However, taking into account the politically motivated previous trials in Belarus, the chances of their release are slim, especially in the absence of pressure,” Wlodarczyk said.
More than a dozen other Belarusian press club staff were evacuated to Lithuania and Ukraine and are scheduled to go to Poland in January and operate from Warsaw, he added.