«Banned Texts» of Belarusian journalists echoed in Sweden
Swedish writers and journalists have expressed their solidarity with imprisoned Belarusian journalists. In October, a solidarity event titled «Censorship in Belarus – Banned Texts» took place in Malmö, Sweden, organized by the PEN Club and the Dawit Isaak Library as part of a week of support for banned culture.
The event featured freelance journalist Åsa Ohlsson, who informed participants about the media situation in Belarus and provided examples of censored materials. She spoke about imprisoned members of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and independent Belarusian journalists in exile.
Journalists Margareta Flygt, Moa Skimutis, and Torbjörn Hallgren read articles from the list of banned materials, as well as texts describing the lives of their colleagues on both sides of the Belarusian border.
As of October 25, 36 media workers are behind bars.
This is not the first act of solidarity by Swedish journalists with Belarusian media workers. In early March, an event called «Echoing the Voices of Women» was held at an art museum in Malmö to highlight imprisoned female journalists from Belarus. With the support of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Malmö PEN Club spoke about nine media women who are currently imprisoned and also shared quotes from the final statement in court of Iryna Leushyna, editor-in-chief of the BelaPAN agency.
In November, further solidarity actions are planned in Malmö under the title «Open Word in Times of Silence». They will be organized by a network that facilitates exchanges between the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and the Swedish Union of Journalists (SJF), together with the PEN Club.
BAJ calls on journalists around the world to support the solidarity action! You can print portraits of imprisoned Belarusian media workers, take pictures with them in outstanding places in your city (outside Belarus), and post them on social media using the hashtags #СвабодуЖурналістам and #BecauseTheJournalist. Don’t forget to send them to office@baj.media or intercomm@baj.media.