U.S. GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON IVASHKEVICH TRIAL :: Charter'97 :: News

The United States joins the European Union and the OSCE Representative on the Freedom of Media in condemning the conviction and sentence imposed on the editor-in-chief of the Belarusian newspaper Rabochy, Mr. Viktor Ivashkevich. Mr. Ivashkevich, who was charged with insulting Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko in a trial closed to domestic and international observers, was sentenced on September 16 to two years of corrective labor.

The United States views these actions as indicative of the continuing deterioration of freedom of the press in Belarus. The Ivashkevich case follows the June 24 conviction of Grodno-based Pahonya journalists Nikolai Markevich and Pavel Mozhieko. We urge the Government of Belarus to reverse these convictions and sentences.

The United States joins with OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, in calling for Belarus to immediately cease its policy of criminal prosecution and intimidation of independent journalists, and to repeal its unjust criminal laws on libel and defamation. Belarus should abide by its commitments to freedom of expression and freedom of the media that it has subscribed to as an OSCE participating state.

Belarus must return to the path of political liberalization and respect for human rights if it hopes to improve relations with the international community and end its self-imposed isolation.