''Intex-Press'' (Интекс-пресс, 17,300 copies) is an independent local

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in

Baranovichi Baranavichy or Baranovichi is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Baranavichy District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817. ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. The paper version was banned by authorities in 2021. In 2023, website and social network accounts of Intex-Press were declared 'extremist' in Belarus.

History

State pressure

On April 15, 2021, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Vladimir Yanukevich was summoned by the interdistrict prosecutor Alexander Karlyuk and issued a warning of the

Baranavichy Baranavichy or Baranovichi is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Baranavichy District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817. ...

interdistrict prosecutor's office for an interview with

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (; born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist. After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposit ...

. On April 26, the court of the Baranovichy District district and the city of

(judge Nikolay Kmita) fined Yanukevich 20 basic units, as he was accused of violating the law on mass media in the form of disseminating information on the Internet, the dissemination of which is prohibited. On May 4, 2021, the Ministry of Information issued a warning to the editorial office for the interview. On May 5, 2021, the Brest Regional Economic Court (judge Igor Kondratyuk) punished Yanukevich with a fine of 150 base units for the printed version of the interview. On April 28, 2021, it became known that

Belposhta Belposhta () or Belpochta () is the national postal service of Belarus. It became a member of the Universal Postal Union in 1947. History The development of postal services in Belarus began in ancient times. So, for 885 is the first mention in t ...

would not include the publication in the subscription catalog for the second half of the year and would not take it for sale in offices. Private retail chains, such as Belmarket, Marcin, Dobronom and others, also refused to sell the newspaper. On May 4, 2021, Belsayuzdruk (the government-run newspaper stand chain) unilaterally refused to sell the newspaper from May 5, 2021, a letter about this was signed by the director of the Brest branch of the state monopoly Tatyana Zinevich. On May 9, 2021, the Belarusian Press House unilaterally refused to print the newspaper, a letter to this effect was signed by Deputy General Director for Production and Ideological Work Yuri Arikhovsky.

Andrey Bastunets Andrey Leonidovich Bastunets (; born 1966) is a Belarusian lawyer, journalist, musician, and free speech activist. Bastunets was born in Minsk in 1966, he graduated from the law faculty of the BSU. Since 2015 he is the chairman of the Belarusia ...

, chairman of the

Belarusian Association of Journalists The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) (; ) is a Belarusian professional association of journalists from independent media, created in 1995 to protect freedom of speech, freedom of information, promote the professional standards of journ ...

, noted that the persecution of Intex-press in all directions was coordinated by someone.

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media functions as a watchdog on media developments in all 57 participating member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He or she provides early warning on violations ...

Teresa Ribeiro Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or reap", or from θέ ...

condemned the pressure on Intex-press to interfere with the work of the media under the pretext of fighting extremism. On December 29, 2021, Intex-Press website was blocked in Belarus. The website and social networks of the publication were declared extremist resources on April 29, 2023. Under current Belarusian law this label means that even readers of such 'extremist' media outlets face fines and prison terms of up to 7 years for reposting, subscribing or commenting its materials. In 2022, Intex-Press reporter Yury Hantsarevich was arrested and later sentenced to 2.5 years in prison under extremist charges for sending photos of military aircraft at a Belarusian airbase to

Radio Svoboda Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

References

Bilingual newspapers Russian-language newspapers published in Belarus Mass media in Baranavichy Free Media Awards winners Censorship in Belarus {{Belarus-newspaper-stub