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Four independent Belarusian journalists have not been allowed to leave Belarus since beginning of March 2012. Authorities offer official explanations that the journalists are debtors in bankruptcy cases or interested parties in relation to debtors.

After the 2011 financial crisis and hyperinflation in Belarus, state media face declining print runs, budget expenditures and loss of staff members.

Index on Censorship has announced the nominees for the 2012 Freedom of Expression Awards. This year 15 candidates were nominated in journalism, advocacy, innovation and arts categories. The winners will be announced on March 28.

At least 46 journalists were killed around the world in 2011 and 179 writers, editors and photojournalists were behind bars on December 1, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports.

Rebecca MacKinnon’s will present her new book, Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom.

Two weeks before Presidential election in Russia, board of directors of the independent radio station Ekho Moskvy was changed. This week the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office announced that the online television station Dozhd TV was under investigation to determine who financed the channel’s broadcasts of anti-Kremlin demonstrations. French journalist and author Anne Nivat expelled from the country for interviewing opposition.

Russian authorities ordered to block the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone. “Now, even our speaking about it seems to be banned”, says president of the foundation. Human rights organizations, including Article 19, interpret the move as an assault on freedom of expression.

Kazakhstan entered into a new year by silencing voices of criticism. The authorities search and arrest opposition activists and tighten up free speech in the internet. Uzbekistan follows the same path: editor Muhammad Bekjanov, held since 1999, has been served with an additional five year sentence.

Council of Europe member states urge to heighten sanctions against Europe’s last dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka as opposition leader Andrei Sannikov tells of fears.