Belarusian authorities on Saturday withdrew the accreditation of several foreign media journalists, including AFP, ahead of the latest demonstration challenging the results of the presidential election.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, is facing unprecedented protests since the disputed August 9 election in which he claimed a landslide victory with 80 percent of the vote.
The opposition has rejected the results as manipulated, and has organised two major demonstrations this month and called for a large-scale protest on Sunday.
Government spokesman Anatoly Glaz said the decision to revoke the media accreditations was taken on the recommendation of the country's counter-terrorism unit.
He did not specify how many journalists were affected by the measure, but foreign media including the BBC and Radio Liberty reported the withdrawal of accreditation of several of their journalists.
‘The Belarusian Foreign Ministry called me and informed me that my accreditation and that of one of my colleagues as BBC correspondents had been cancelled. They demanded that I return my card,’ journalist Tatyana Melnichuk told AFP.
Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has fled to neighbouring Lithuania, an EU nation, after claiming she beat the 65-year-old leader at the polls and calling for the protests.
She called news about the withdrawn media accreditations extremely worrying.
‘If true, it is another sign that this regime is morally bankrupt and the only way it will attempt to cling onto power is by fear and intimidation,’ she said in a statement.
‘This tactic will not work. Belarusian people are not afraid any more. We will win. The darkest hour is always before the dawn.’
The US embassy in Minsk also condemned the actions against journalists.
‘We stand with the Belarusian people in their aspirations for a democratic, prosperous future and support their call for the government of Belarus to carry out democratic reforms and respect human rights,’ it said.
The results of the presidential election have been rejected by the European Union, which is preparing sanctions against high-ranking Belarusian officials and has urged Lukashenko to set up a dialogue with the opposition.
Lukashenko, for his part, has refused to make any concessions and has denounced a Western plot to bring him down.
The demonstrations have sparked a violent police crackdown condemned by rights groups and Western leaders.
At least three people have died and hundreds have been wounded in the violence while nearly 7,000 have been arrested.
Several journalists working in Belarus have been briefly detained since the election.
