The Editor Versus Belarus

Iryna Vidanava edits Student Thought, “perhaps the most edgy and professional publication left in Belarus,” where the government has been ruthlessly shutting down all independent media. “Last month, the government seized all but a handful of copies of the magazine. And now Vidanava is under investigation for financial crimes and infractions against the country’s draconian press laws. If charged, the 27-year-old editor could face a huge fine and up to six years in prison. But it’s hard to know exactly what’s happening with her case in Belarus. One investigator is on vacation; another has given no word on where things stand.”