The executives of the private printing-houses in Belarus continue to act as censors, the Belarussian Association of Journalists informs. So, because of the private Minsk printing-house “Plutos-Market” the non-state newspaper “Zhoda” was not published in time.
On September 20 morning the chief editor Alexey Korol received a film with layout of the newspaper instead of the printed copies. The reason for such actions of the printing-house was the sharp political satire on the front page of the “Zhoda” newspaper. In a talk with Korol one of the executives of the “Plutos-Market” confessed that he do not want to face harassment from the authorities, including check-ups of his financial dealings.
It is not the first case of intervention of the printing-houses’ leadership to the activities of independent media. The newspaper “Rabochy” was not printed by “Magic” printing house, special issues of “Predprinimatelskaya Gazeta” were published with white gaps. In September white gaps were seen at the front page of the “Narodnaya Volya”.
BAJ emphasizes that according to the article 4 of the Law on Press, the requirements to receive preliminary authorization or prohibition of some materials is a censorship, which is illegal in Belarus under the Law on Press and the Article 33 of the onstutution.
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