Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry: Detention of Protasevich is another attack on freedom of expression in Belarus

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has stated that the detention of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich is yet another attack on freedom of expression by the authorities and demanded his immediate release.

"More worrying news coming from Belarus as we learned Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich has been detained in Minsk. This is yet another attack on freedom of expression by Belarusian authorities. We demand his immediate release," Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko posted on Twitter.

It is emphasized that the rights of the detainee must be upheld while in detention.

On May 23, Belarusian security forces detained Roman Protasevich, founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, after an emergency landing of plane in Minsk.

Over the past week, the website of the largest independent media outlet in Belarus, Tut.by, was blocked, and raids on homes of several of its editors were conducted. On May 21, a court sentenced a reporter, who had covered the searches, to 15 days in jail.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists says that 27 media workers are currently behind bars, awaiting trial or serving sentences.

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