`Yabloko` Pleads with Putin to Protect Russian Media in Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

The leader of the Russian democratic party “Yabloko” Grigory Yavlinsky and the head of the same Belarusian public association Olga Abramova wrote an open letter to Putin, in which they raise concerns over the situation with the Russian electronic media in Belarus, reports “Interfax” agency.

“They shut down radio stations “Mayak”, “Yunost” and “Golos Rossii”, which used to be important informational channels for the Belarusian citizens for many past years,” – say in unison the leaders of two “Yablokos” in an open missive to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The letter, the text of which was disseminated in Moscow on January 17, also mentions that the Belarusian authorities make no secret of their intentions to change the frequency of broadcasting of some Russian TV channels. This “will entail the contraction of the viewers’ audience in the country,” – say Grigory Yavlinsky and Olga Abramova.
“Moreover,” – say the leaders of democratic opposition of two countries: “they plan to set up on their basis so-called joint broadcasting corporations”. The authors of the letter are afraid that this will ultimately lead to the censorship of Russian mass media.