WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: RFE/RL Continues to Advocate for Our Imprisoned Journalists

courtesy: Freedom House

On World Press Freedom Day, RFE/RL renews its call for the release of our wrongfully imprisoned journalists: Ihar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk in Belarus, and Vladyslav Yesypenko in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Ihar Losik

Ihar Losik is a blogger and contributor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service. He has been imprisoned since June 2020 and is currently serving a 15-year sentence. Ihar’s wife Darya Losik was detained in October 2022 on charges related to her advocacy for her husband’s freedom. With both parents in prison, the Losiks’ four-year-old daughter Paulina is in the care of her maternal grandparents.

Andrey Kuznechyk

Andrey Kuznechyk is a web editor for RFE/RL’s Belarus Service. In November 2021, four unidentified men in plain clothes detained Andrey while he was on a bike ride near his home in Minsk. They searched his home, where he lives with his wife and two children, proceeding to seize his devices and cash. Andrey is currently serving a six-year sentence in a maximum-security prison.

Vladyslav Yesypenko

Vladyslav Yesypenko is a contributor for Crimea.Realities, a reporting project of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. In March 2021, he was detained by FSB agents in Simferopol, Russian-occupied Crimea. During his trial, Vladyslav testified that he was tortured with electric shocks to extract a false confession. He is currently serving a five-year sentence, separated from his wife Kateryna and seven-year-old daughter Stefania.