BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Thursday, 02 June 2005

Belarus press crackdown

Written by David Ferguson in Brussels

"The President of the Republic signed Decree No. 247 concerning the regulation of the use of the words 'national' and 'Belarus' in the names of commercial and non-commercial organizations in the Republic," announced President Alexander Lukashenko's press service. "Organisations and media failing to reregister are illegal and will be banned," said Belarus' Minister of Justice Viktor Golovanov. "The decree aims at making sure that words linked to Belarus' sovereignty are only used by persons meriting their use," Golovanov told reporters in Minsk.

Decree 247 prohibits use of the words 'Belarus' and 'national' by non-state organizations without government approval. Independent newspapers and other media have three months to apply for registration under a new name. The new decree does not apply to banks, political parties, public organisations and trade unions. Independent newspapers that will have to change their names include Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, Belorussky Rynok, Belorusskaya Gazeta and Natsionalnaya Ekomicheskaya Gazeta.

"This is a bit too obvious," said Reporters Without Borders in an unattributed statement. "The sole aim of this presidential decree is to sabotage the few remaining independent news media in Belarus. Day after day, the government continues to find new ways to curb press freedom and harass news media that are not subservient to President Lukashenko."

"Not only will they have to spend money to re-register, they will also have to deal with the technical problems of changing their logo and layout, and their banking details. And they could also lose readers who fail to recognize their usual newspaper by its new name," said Reporters Without Borders. There are also fears that the required new names may not be accepted by Minsk authorities.

Earlier this week, Minsk District Court sentenced, to three years 'restriction of freedom' and forced labour, two prominent Belarus opposition figures, Nikolai Statkevich, a leader of the Social-Democratic Party (Narodnaya Gromada) and Pavel Severinets, leader of the non-registered youth organization 'Youth Front'.

Charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus for "organization of group activities which violate public order or active participation therein", the defendants Statkevich and Severinets, according to the prosecutor, "on 18 and 19 November 2004, by prior agreement, organized and took part in group activities which violated public order". The prosecutor noted that demonstrators did not obey police orders to disperse and that the march prevented the normal functioning of public transport.

OSCE's Ambassador to Belarus Eberhard Heyken expressed concern: "I monitored the demonstration myself and can confirm that the demonstration was neither violent nor threatening. A three-year sentence handed down for the expression of personal political opinions is disproportionate and cannot be justified," Heyken continued.

Source:

http://euro-reporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=1