Ihar Losik

Affiliated media: Radio Svaboda , Journalist

Incident date: September 11, 2025

Attack type:

• Forced deportation, Extradition

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Belarusian Association of Journalists

Location: Belarus, Minsk

Additional information:

Twelve journalists and bloggers were forcibly deported from Belarus to Lithuania (Vilnius) following their release from a penal colony on 11 September. They are Irina Slavnikova, Larisa Shchiryakova, Elena Timoshchuk, Alexander Mantsevich, Ihar Losik, Yevgeny Merkis, Vyacheslav Lazarev, Pavel Mozheyko, Pavel Podobed, Nikolai Dedok, Pavel Vinogradov, and Dmitry Kozlov. The journalists were freed as part of a group of 52 prisoners after a visit to Minsk by John Cole, a representative of the US President. They were transported from Belarus to Lithuania by bus against their will, with no opportunity to make a choice. Some of the former political prisoners found themselves abroad without passports.