Independent “Novaya Gazeta Smorgoni” May Cease Existence :: Charter'97 :: News

Local executive in the person of the head of the district executive committee Stanislav Yurgel demands to halt the activities of the editor of the newspaper Romuald Ulan as an individual entrepreneur and addressed over the matter the Grodno region economic court. The newspaper’s personnel are convinced that the authorities are simply trying to silence the popular regional edition.

Formal claims to the founder of the “Novaya Gazeta Smorgoni” have neither economic nor political basis. The entrepreneur is accused of violating fire safety rules and labor legislation norms. Romuald Ulan says in his turn that each of these warnings entails fines of four minimal wages. However, the payment of fines didn’t help put an end to the conflict. Upon the demand of the Smorgon district executive committee Ulan’s case will be considered in the economic court of the Grodno region.
“I’ve no idea what it will all lead to. For the time being the lawyers can’t say for sure whether the newspaper will be automatically liquidated simply because I am its only founder. When I was issued a media registration certificate, they also required entrepreneurs’ documents with a permit to carry out publishing activities. And so I fear that there will follow another order to annul my license on publishing the “Novaya Gazeta Smorgoni”. This being the case, they will get green light for closing down other regional editions. And this incident, by the way, is envisaged in Luakshenko’s decree on organizing and liquidating commercial companies,” – Radio Svaboda quotes Romuald Ulan as saying.
- Unfortunately we don’t have independent judiciary here. The judge will be guided by his personal thinking. Pessimists say even today that two reprimands in a row is a sufficient condition for closure. That’s how it is written in the law and presidential decree. If we look at it from this angle, then the newspaper will certainly go shut.
“Novaya Gazeta Smorgoni” first appeared in 1996 and has been regularly seeing light every since. It enjoys great popularity and trust among the readers, having the biggest subscription base of all.