PACE calls to investigate the death of Oleg Bebenin

PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media concerned about the situation with journalists in Belarus.

The report, prepared by Mats Johansson (Sweden, EPP/CD), approved last week by the committee and made public today, makes specific recommendations to a number of states including Belarus.

The 2000 disapperance of photo journalist Dmitry Zavadsky and the 2010 death of “Charter'97” website founder Oleg Bebenin should be properly investigated, Ales Bialiatski and Anton Suryapin should be released immediately, and penalties and prosecutions against a number of other journalists should be dropped, said in the report.

The committee also deplores the excessive application of criminal laws on defamation in Azerbaijan and Turkey as well as excessive legal actions in Armenia, Bulgaria and Moldova. Biased election media environments recently identified in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine should be remedied.