BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
24/01/2009
Belarus parties' websites attacked
MINSK: The websites of Belarus' top two opposition political parties were shut down yesterday after attacks by hackers, party officials said.
The websites for the Party of the Belarusian People's Front (PBPF) and the For Freedom! group stopped working in the early morning, said Anatoly Lebedko, an opposition spokesman.
The Internet and web-published news are one of the few sources of independent information in authoritarian Belarus. For Freedom! is an umbrella organisation headed by Belarus' leading anti-government activist, Aleksander Milinkevich.
"We are absolutely sure that the break-down of the sites took place with the cooperation of the authorities," Lebedko said. "They are trying to frighten us."
Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko in December announced plans to "re-register" all media operating in the former Soviet republic.
An official at Lukashenko's office, contacted for comment, denied any link between the Internet problems experienced by the two opposition groups, and acts of the Belarusian state.
Belarus' new media registration programme, set to begin on February 8, is aimed at removing completely access for average Belarusians to unbiased news and information, Lebedko charged.
A former collective farm boss, Lukashenko enjoys total control over state media, and uses a powerful uniformed and secret police force to repress dissent.
The registration programme is necessary to push irresponsible reporting out of the media, and to raise the tone of Belarusian news reports, Lukashenko said in early January remarks.-DPA
Source:
Archive
Subscribe Daily Newsletter:
Belarus News and Analysis Donate:
