Day three: Belarusian police raid homes of journalists and rights activists
Police in Belarus have raided the offices and homes of journalists and human rights activists for a third consecutive day today.
The so-far three-day search came as the UK’s ambassador to the United Nations and World Health Organisation in Geneva, Simon Manley, said the UK was still “deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Belarus”.
The raids, which seemingly target dissident voices, forms part of what human rights activists say is a crackdown on president Alexander Lukashenko’s oppositions.
The office of US broadcaster Radio Liberty in the Belarusian capital Minsk was among those raided, according to local reports.
While local human rights organisation Viasna-96 reported that two Radio Liberty journalists had been detained.
Police officers went to the homes of a journalist from Polish TV channel Belsat and those of several local reporters, according to local reports.
On Wednesday and Thursday, officials searched around 20 human rights, charity, media and expert institutions, detaining over 15 people, including the head of Viasna-96 which has tracked the raid.
Lukashenko has been in power since 1994 and faced weeks of mass protests last year after he was declared the winner of a presidential election that his opponents said was rigged.
Dozens of people were detained following the 9 August election, after thousands reportedly took to the streets.
Authorities have shut down a number of non-state media outlets and human rights groups following the protests.