BELARUS: CPJ DENOUNCES HARASSMENT OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA DURING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION :: Charter'97 :: News

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounces the Belarusian government`s crackdown on independent media outlets during the September 9 presidential election. Authorities blocked access to the Internet sites of several independent media outlets that were posting up-to-the-minute reports of violations at polling stations, local press and election monitors reported. "Free and democratic elections require the unfettered circulation of ideas and exchange of information," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. "By censoring and harassing the independent and opposition media during this election, President Lukashenko has once again shown his contempt for democracy."

Online versions of major opposition newspapers, including Belarusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, Nasha Svaboda, and Belarusskaya Gazeta, could not be viewed on September 9. The Internet sites of the independent BelaPan news agency, Radio Racyja, and the Belarusian Service of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also experienced unexplained service interruptions on election day.

The Internet campaign site of Vladimir Goncharik, Lukashenko`s main opponent, was also jammed, as were the sites of the civic organizations Charter`97 and Independent Monitoring.

Prior to the elections, Charter`97 consistently criticized Lukashenko and publicized credible allegations made by former government officials implicating the president in the murder of Dmitry Zavadsky, a cameraman with the Russian public television network ORT who has been missing since July 7, 2000.

Lukashenko`s "victory"

On September 10, Belarusian Central Election Commission chief Lidiya Yermoshina declared President Aleksandr Lukashenko the undisputed victor. The commission`s official results, announced four days later, gave Although Lukashenko rejoiced in his "elegant victory," opposition members and international observers maintain that his win resulted from extensive electoral fraud.

The Vienna-based Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent several hundred observers to monitor the elections and expressed concern over a "campaign of intimidation against...opposition and independent media," as well as "Highly biased State-controlled media and censorship against the independent media."

In the weeks prior to the elections, CPJ documented numerous incidents where government authorities restricted newspaper distribution, in some cases by seizing the technical equipment and print runs of independent and opposition newspapers.

In addition, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry denied entry to CPJ, Article 19, and some OSCE representatives in order to prevent them from monitoring press freedom and electoral conditions prior to the September 9 vote.

Independent media`s bleak future

Several hours after the polls closed on September 9, according to Charter`97, President Lukashenko announced plans to ban the Russian channel TV-6 from operating in Belarus.

Unlike the propaganda-filled Belarusian state television, Russian television stations have been critical of Lukashenko. In return, the president has periodically threatened to expel Russian journalists.

On September 10, correspondents from the independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya, the BelaPan news agency, and the Latvian newspaper Diyena were denied access to a presidential news conference, according to Charter`97. At the press conference, President Lukashenko promised to "support journalists the way I supported them before."