Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Belarusian Government on journalists currently under house arrest and awaiting criminal trials in the country.

The UK Government has repeatedly called on Belarus to release journalists who have been arbitrarily detained, and to hold to account those responsible for attacks on journalists. I did so most recently on 16 August in response to the Belarusian authorities' designation of content from TUT.BY as extremist. We raise our concerns publicly, through international fora, and in our bilateral discussions with the Belarusian authorities. We have been clear that continuing this destructive activity will only deepen the pariah status of the Lukashenko regime.