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Police Detained Journalists In Naroulia

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Police Detained Journalists In Naroulia

A freelance journalist Ales Zaleuski was creating a report about a liquidator of Chernobyl nuclear power plant incident’s aftermaths.

On April 3 the freelance journalist Ales Zaleuski, a camera man, a driver and the principle character of the report Ivan Vitkouski were detained by police, the human rights centre Viasna informs.

They have spent a few hours in Naroulia police department, giving explanations about their filming. The filming crew was charged with allegedly illegal filming of administrative buildings in Lenin Square in the capital of the district. Policemen were also interested, what accents there will be in the future reportage about the liquidator of the damage caused by an accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ivan Vitkouski. At the police department the policemen looked through all the videotape footage.

“I understand their work, as such are the laws, – the journalist Ales Zaleuski comments. – But naturally I am against such a practice and such laws.”

Ivan Vitkouski participated in emergency clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. As a result of his work he became a disabled person. Independent mass media created reports about the courageous dweller of Palesie.

“It is simply an outrage, – the liquidator is fuming. – We people are detained for filming? What’s wrong with that? I worked as a liquidator of the emergency. If not for such stupid Ivans as me, there would be a different exclusion zone, not up to Naroulia, but up to Minsk. 30 years have passed since the moment of the accident, but not a single journalist from a republican or district newspaper or TV ever looked in to talk to me. Recently I was told that a reporter of Sovetskaya Belorussia visited Naroulia to write a story about liquidators, but he failed to find me allegedly. If he had wanted to find me, he would have found me. Today a TV crew of ONT channel was on the square. I came up to them and asked them, whether they had been detained, and told them about their detained colleagues. They could not believe such things are possible.”

Journalists visited the liquidator the day before as well. There were no detentions though, but their car documents were scrutinized by a traffic policeman for a long time, and then a deputy head of Naroulia police department had a conversation with them.

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