BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2006

RSF Says 22 Journalists Detained In Belarus

March 25, 2006 -- The media-freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says 22 journalists have been detained in Belarus over the past week, and 13 of them remain in police custody.

The group issued a statement in Moscow saying that the detained journalists are from Belarus, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Canada.

It said most were accused of hooliganism, participation in unauthorized gatherings, or using obscenities.

Reporters Without Borders said the arrests are intended to gag dissent and to sow a climate of terror in the country. The Paris-based group said the journalists are being held in bad conditions in overcrowded and unheated cells.

(AP)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/03/E8ADE2EE-916A-4071-A025-FBC358EB74A3.html