BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/06/

Council of Europe conference in Warsaw to discuss democratisation of the media in Belarus

Note to editors - 098(2008)

Strasbourg, 02.06.2008 - The Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe (INGO's) is holding a conference on Democratisation of the Mass Media in Belarus on 6-7 June in Warsaw, hosted by the Polish Parliament.

The event, which is organised by the Conference of INGOs and the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, will gather members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), international NGOs, Belarusian journalists, human rights defenders, representatives of the democratic opposition in Belarus, as well as representatives of NGOs, experts and politicians from Poland.

The conference will discuss the challenges of media freedom in Belarus from several angles: broadcasting and international assistance to independent media coverage, the situation of the printed media, internet legislation, and the role of civil society and human right defenders of the media.

At the beginning of the conference the situation of the media in Belarus will be analysed at a hearing, chaired by Andrew McIntosh, PACE member from the UK.

The conference is a session of the Civil Society Communication Platform for Belarus, which takes place under the Council of Europe Plan of Assistance activities for Belarus. It will be opened by Jean Marie Heydt, vice president of the Conference of INGOs, Andrew McIntosh, chair of the Sub-Committee on the Media of PACE, and Zhanna Litvina, Chairperson of the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

The event, which is open to the press, will take place at the conference room of the Polish Parliament (Nowy Dom Poselski, sala konferencyjna), Wiejska street 4/6/8.

Requests for accreditation should be sent to bpr@sejm.gov.pl

A press conference will be held at 12.30 on Friday 6 June at the same venue.

Contacts for the press:

Mateusz Pawlak, phone+ 48 22 371 62 84 mobile:+ 48 692 42 45 45 mpawlak@pulaski.pl

Agnieszka Michalska-Bultrowicz, Information Office of the Council of Europe in Poland Tel: + 48 22 845 20 84 informrwarsaw@coe.int, agnieszka.michalska@coe.int

Source:

https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=NE098(2008)&Language=lanEnglish&Ver=original&Site=DC&BackColorInternet=F5CA75&BackColorIntranet=F5CA75&BackColorLogged=A9BACE

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