Roskomnadzor blocks article on Charter97

A news article about the “Siberian Republic” was blocked.

The American hosting company Amazon said access the page with the article “Siberians Want to Proclaim 'Siberian Republic'” was restricted by communication service providers in the Russian Federation following the requirement of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation 27-27-2014/Id2520-14 of 01.08.2014.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia thinks the article contains “calls for mass disorders, extremist activities and participation in the mass (public) events held with violation of the established order”.

Within 24 hours of the receipt of the request, a hosting provider or a person responsible for posting content on information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, must inform the owner of the information resource about the request and notify him of the necessity to immediately remove the information,” the request says.

We think this article is not a call for taking part in a protest rally. It was just a news report. The website charter97.org does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Russian legislation. The demand to remove the news is a gross violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, in particular, article 34 that guarantees citizens of the Republic of Belarus the “right to receive, store and disseminate complete, reliable and timely information on the activities of state bodies and public associations, on political, economic, cultural and international life, and on the state of the environment”.

We hope Amazon will not yield to pressure from the Russian authorities and will not impose any sanctions on our website.