Belarus Foreign Ministry Denies Accreditation to NTV Group :: Charter'97 :: News

The Foreign Ministry of Belarus denied accreditation to the NTV group, which arrived in Minsk from Moscow. The Minsk NTV representation explained the invitation of the additional TV group from Moscow by the forthcoming two large events on April 26. On this day Alexander Lukashenko will traditionally travel to the radioactively contaminated zone, while opposition will hold its traditional rally “Chernobyl Shlyach”. Alexander Kolpakov told the Charter’97 press-center that his group was planning to record Lukashenko’s visit to the Gomel region, while the director of the Belarusian NTV Pavel Selin intended to cover the regular Chernobyl Shlyach, held on April 26 every year. The Belarusian FM declines to comment on the accreditation denial to Kolpakov.

As you remember, previously the Belarusian authorities have already reprimanded another NTV reporter Pavel Selin. They called his coverage “tendentious” and information – “ungrounded”. Selin has been warned that he might be stripped of accreditation.

Moreover, the authorities’ message reads that in the event the practice is continued, they may strip the reporter of his FM’s accreditation. Back on January 9 the Foreign Ministry also pointed to Selin at the “inadmissibility of facts’ distortion and the formation of false picture of the real events, underway in the country”.

NTV disagrees with these statements. Their response to the warnings states the following: “NTV company, consistently keeping to the principles of objectivity, is striving to inform its citizens about the position of all significant players at the Belarusian political field. It likewise tries to most objectively and in an all-round way to cover the political situation in Belarus, reflecting the diverse views of various political forces.”

In their statement the NTV company calls on the Belarusian authorities “not to create hindrances for the normal execution by journalists of their professional duties.”