Free Media Awards
2026
Andrei Aliaksandrau (Belarus)
Journalist and media director Andrei Aliaksandrau, who is currently imprisoned in Belarus, has been chosen to receive a Free Media Award for his courage and commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of expression under an increasingly repressive regime. T
Through his work at the independent Belarusian news agency BelaPAN and the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), he has helped strengthen professional standards of journalism, support independent media and build international networks of journalists and human rights defenders. Andrei Aliaksandrau was arrested for his work in 2021. In 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment on trumped-up charges. He is recognised as a political prisoner.