BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

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Council of Europe parliamentarians: without free media, Belarus election 'doomed to be non-democratic'

/noticias.info/ The Sub-Committee on the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is deeply concerned about respect for freedom of expression in the media in Belarus.

In a statement adopted today, it said:

"Belarus has aspirations for membership of the Council of Europe and has committed itself to respect such freedom under United Nations texts. Nevertheless, the president, the government, the parliament and the administration in Belarus have failed to act on the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Assembly in Resolution 1372 (2004) on the persecution of the press in Belarus.

With the presidential elections in 2006, in particular, the people of Belarus have the right to be informed independently and correctly about the situation in their country. Without free and independent media, these elections are doomed to be non-democratic.

The Sub-Committee calls on the European Union to remove constraints on support to broadcasting into Belarus and calls on Council of Europe member states to support their own broadcasters to do so".

Source:

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=123661&src=0