Journalism students collecting signatures against what they regard as politically motivated expulsion 11:55, 01/06/2005
Students at the journalism faculty of Belarusian State University collected signatures to an appeal against what they view as politically motivated expulsion of 3rd year student Olga Klaskovskaya, a political correspondent of the embattled private newspaper Narodnaya Volya.
The official reason for the expulsion was Ms. Klaskovskaya’s failure to pass winter exams, which she missed because she was taking care of her seriously sick 3-year-old child.
The appeal, addressed to Sergei Dubovik, dean of the journalism faculty, describes the reason as “artificially created” and “politically motivated,” according to journalism student Alena Andreyeva. The appeal links the expulsion to Ms. Klaskovskaya’s work for the Narodnaya Volya, the mentioning of her name by the Article-19 press freedom watchdog among journalists whose rights were violated by the authorities, and her recent complaint to the Prosecutor General`s Office about police manhandling during an anti-government protest that she was covering for the newspaper.
The appeal says that the university administration applied a harsher-than-usual punishment to Ms. Klaskovskaya, giving her no opportunity to pass the exams, something that other students were offered in similar situations.
Students delivered the statement to the dean on May 31.
The expulsion comes amid a string of libel suits and official warnings against the Narodnaya Volya that may lead to the newspaper’s bankruptcy or closure.
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