Belarusian Association of Journalists not allowed to reading of Law on Media

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has repeatedly addressed the “parliament” with a request to allow the experts of the association to be present at the session of the working group and standing committee during the discussion of the Law on Media.

“Unfortunately, we have been invited neither to the first session nor to the second one. Yesterday chairman of the commission Yury Kulakouski answered my question why we weren’t invited: “We have no time,” Radio Svaboda learnt from BAJ head Zhanna Litvina.

The BAJ members weren’t invited to the today’s session of the “house of representatives” where the Law on Media is discussed in the first reading.

It should be reminded that the BAJ sent individual requests to all MPs last week. 17 pages of a more detailed and well-grounded expert report of the draft law were sent to the head of the commission yesterday.

“I’m not very optimistic about the situation. The aim of the authorities is clear: to adopt the law as soon as possible. So existence of other point of view is not necessary. The authorities want this “parliament” to approve the law. Most of these people won’t be responsible for it in the future. That is why it is happening so quickly in closed regime and the information is so contradictory: minister Rusakevich says a draft decree on legal regulation of the Internet is prepared, deputy minister Liliya Ananich says amendments to the law are necessary, but as a result we have a new version of the law on Media,” BAJ head Zhanna Litvina told.

Natallya Pyatkevich, deputy head of the Presidential Administration said at the yesterday’s session of the standing commission, where BAJ members weren’t allowed to, the new law didn’t contain any new restrictions, it would regulate not Internet-media, but Internet versions of the existing printed and electronic media, the draft law didn’t tighten responsibility for violations.

Zhanna Litvina thinks Pyatkevich is preparing public opinion for adopting of the law by this. The BAJ continues to insist on publication of the draft law on media, on wide national discussion on the issue, on draft to be sent to the Council of Europe for expert evaluation as it was promised.

“We will try our best for the law not to be a step backward, for it not to inflict further harm to spreading of independent information. By defending our right for a profession, we defend rights of citizens for choosing of an information source.”