Nasha Niva (, it means "Our field") was a newspaper in Belarus. It was made in 1906. It was made again in 1991.

The website of "Nasha Niva" (nn.by) was made in 1997. This site can't be opened in Belarus. It has been writing about the 2020 Belarusian protests and 2020 Belarusian presidential election. It uses the Belarusian language.

Nasha Niva

"Nasha Niva" is free of state propaganda. It is against Alexander Lukashenko. The government tried to close the newspaper many times. The newspaper got big fines and was left from state circulation. The editors and journalists have been arrested.

Nasha Niva

As of 2020, the editor-in-chief is Yahor Martsinovich, he came after Andrej Dyńko.

Nasha Niva

2021 attack

On July 8, 2021, the office and the houses of its main people were looked for. Main journalists Yahor Martsinovich, Andrej Dyńko, Andrej Skurko, accountant Volha Rakovich were arrested. "Nasha Niva" said that editor Jahor Marcinovič went through a physical attack. They were called responsible for the 2020 Belarusian protests. Several other "Nasha Niva" journalist were detained. Since that day, the domain name was stopped working, the website of "Nasha Niva" can't be opened. The Ministry of Information of Belarus made such punishment for "prohibited information" that the website has been having over it.

On July 12, 2021, ten organizations (the Viasna Human Rights Centre, the Belarusian Association of Journalists, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and others) made a joint statement. It said that Yahor Martsinovich, Andrej Dyńko, Andrej Skurko, and Volha Rakovich are political prisoners.

In November 2021, Nasha Niva's Telegram channel and its social networks were declared extremist materials. In January 2022, the KGB declared Nasha Niva an extremist group. Creation of an extremist group or participation in it is a criminal offence in Belarus.

On March 15, 2022, Martsinovich and Skurko were sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for estimated material damage of 10,000 Belarusian rubles ($3000). According to the investigators, in May 2017 they opened offices in Skurko's apartment but kept paying for electricity as individuals, while Belarusian law obliges legal persons to pay increased rates.

Awards

Chief editor Andrej Dyńko got International Award "Freedom of Speech" and Lorenzo Natali Prize (2006); (2007) I Love Belarus (2010) Andrej Dyńko got first prize in ‘Belarus in Focus’ journalist contest (2013) Egor Martinovich got ‘Press Freedom’ award by Reporters Without Borders (2015) Egor Martinovich and Dmitry Pankaviec got BAJ ‘Volnaye Slova’ Award (2015) Natallia Lubneuskaya got the (2021)

References

Sources

Other websites

Nasha Niva Online

Interview with Andrey Dynko

The Prague Society for International Cooperation

The History of Naša Niva from 1906 to the Present Day

Newspapers in Belarus

Censorship in Belarus

Free Media Award winners

News websites