Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic representations his Department has made to the Government of Belarus since recent reports of attacks on independent media outlets including the seizure of equipment and property and the arrests of journalists in that country.

​The UK is concerned about restrictions on media freedom in Belarus. We consistently raise our concerns about media freedom as part of ongoing discussions with Belarusian counterparts on human rights and democracy. UK officials raised concerns about the lack of media freedom with the Belarusian Ambassador on 3 April and stressed the importance of a free media with the Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister on 17 April. In February, our Embassy in Minsk attended the trial of the editor of the independent online media outlet, tut.by. Our Embassy is also closely monitoring the situation of the independent TV channel, Belsat, following a search of their offices in Minsk by Belarusian law enforcement officers. The UK continues to support a number of projects to promote and develop independent media in Belarus and regularly raises the need to engage with non-state media, most recently with the Deputy Minister of Information on 10 April.