Deputy Minister Povejšil participated in informal on-line UN Security Council meeting on media freedom in Belarus
25.01.2021 / 10:03 | Aktualizováno: 02.03.2023 / 15:59
On Friday, 22 January 2021, Deputy Minister for security and multilateral affairs Martin Povejšil participated in the informal on-line UN Security Council meeting on media freedom in Belarus. In his statement he expressed concern about the deterioration of the freedom of expression and the media and safety of journalists in Belarus. He also expressed concern about the detention of the human rights defender and media expert Andrei Alexandrov, the social media consultant of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Ihar Losik and the human rights activist and blogger Mikalai Dziadok.
Deputy Minister Povejšil called for a thorough, transparent and impartial investigation of all attacks against journalists and other media actors in Belarus. He believes that a discussion on finding appropriate international means for further investigating the gross human rights violations is needed. He called for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus, including freedom of expression and the media, right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, ensuring safety of journalists and protection of human rights defenders and civil society.
The informal UN Security Council meeting on media freedom in Belarus was convened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu. The live streamed meeting is available here. More than 30 UN Member States made statements, including on the ministerial level. The introductory remarks were delivered by Ms. Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression and Ms. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition presidential candidate. Representatives of Belarusian civil society and independent media also participated in the meeting.