Belarusian FM Reprimands NTV Reporter Pavel Selin :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarusian Foreign ministry has issued official reprimand to the correspondent of the Russain company NTV Apvel Selin relating his reporting the events in Minsk on April 19, when a peaceful protest march “Can’t Live Like That Anymore!” was brutally dispersed, about a fire in the volunteers’ camp in Kurapaty, and about the great number of Belarusians, who had to emigrate because they undergo constant bullying by the authorities. These newscasts were on air at the NTV channel on April 14, 19, 20 and 21.

It is not the first summons to the Belarusian prosecutor’s office for Pavel Selin. On January 9, 2002 Pavel Selin was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, and he was pointed at the “inadmissibility of distorting facts and forming false ideas about the events in Belarus”. In his coverage last time Selin told about futile attempts of the Russian brewery “Baltika” to come to the Belarusian market.

Needless to say from whom the initiative to punish the journalist for his objective coverage of Belarus’ situation emanated. The day before the NTV correspondent was orally reprimanded by Alexander Lukashenko himself, angered by Selin’s report on the April 19 police dispersal of a peaceful rally. Speaking before the parliamentarians on April 23, Lukashenko said that the April 19 events had been masterminded by the opposition. “Those who needed the picture, they got it,” – stressed the leader of Belarus. He added that the conductor of the picture was NTV. He labeled Pavel Selin’s materials “tendentious” and hinted at the possibility of his soon deportation from Belarus.

Meantime, this was NTV correspondent’s first reprimand. However, yesterday Pavel Selin was told that the continuation of “such practices” on his behalf would ultimately bring about his deprivation of license, issued by the Ministry of foreign affairs of Belarus.

Despite unconcealed intimidations, the NTV correspondent said he wouldn’t seek justification for his journalistic activities before the authorities of Belarus. “I take their arguments into consideration but in no wise share them myself,” – said Pavel Selin in an interview to the Charter’97 press-center.