Interational PEN Calls Government Stop Persecution Of Journalists :: Charter'97 :: News

Eugene Schoulgin? Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of the International PEN has addressed an open letter to Alyaxandar Lukashenka, where he expressed concern about the continuing pressure on journalists of the shut down independent newspaper “Pahonia” Mikalai Markevich and Pavel Mazheika, who face imprisonment in direct denial of their right to freedom of expression. “International PEN, the world association of writers representing members in 95 countries, is concerned about the continuing trial against our colleagues, Mikola Markievich and Pavel Mazheika, who face imprisonment in direct denial of their right to freedom of expression.

International PEN is concerned that Article 367 of the Criminal Code which is being applied against Pahonia editor Mikola Markievich and its journalist Pavel Mazheika is formulated in such a way as to penalise criticism of the Belarus leadership, providing a particularly harsh penalty of up to 5 years in prison.

This article is a clear and direct abuse of the right to free expression, and is frequently used to gag criticism of Your Excellency. While not wishing to negate the need for some form of reparation to individuals whose reputations have been damaged by malicious or false reports, we would like to stress that criminal libel laws are widely acknowledged as bearing inappropriately heavy penalties. Civil courts are seen as being more suitable for such cases. Government leaders who have used criminal libel laws against those who criticise them have been accused by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of using such legislation as a means of silencing dissent.

In democratic societies, leaders do not resort to the courts to penalise their critics, recognising that they have at their disposal full and special access to their national media to dispute those claims”, – wrote Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of the International PEN.