Trials Over Newspapers and Journalists Take Place Every Day :: Charter'97 :: News

Last month the trials over independent newspapers are taking place every day, Radio Svaboda informs. For instance, yesterday in the Economic Court of Minsk considered a lawsuit filed by administration of Salihorsk state mining and chemical technical school against the editorial office of the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya”. In Barysau the trial over the editor-in-chief of the “Borisovskie Novoisti” Anatol Bukas finished. As before, the attention of the society is focused on the huge fine to the “Narodnaya Volya”, 100 million rubles. This ruling was made this week.

Independent journalists now spend more time in courtrooms than in editorial offices. Some of them are tried, others report about these proceedings or just support their colleagues. The phrase that the cleanup operation is taking place again on informational space, has become a commonplace. Moreover, all methods for eradication of independent thought are used; financial stifling, eviction from premises, a ban for officials to give information, pressure, told the head of the Belarusian association of journalists Zhana Litsvina.

(Litsvina): “There is nothing new in these actions, but intensification of the tendency for abolishing not even oppositional, but alternative, is obvious. In this crusade against alternative, the desire to put the public thought under total control is seen. By the methods of pressure and control over the public thought stability and security for the government could be guaranteed to some extent”.

The sums of fines are amazing, as they are absolutely impossible for independent newspapers, and especially for journalists. The “Narodnaya Volya” was fined almost USD 45,000. Yesterday Barysau court punished the editor-in-chief of the “Borisovskie Novoisti” Anatol Bukas by a fine of 40 basic units, and made him compensate 3 million rubles for moral damages of the editor of the state-run newspaper “Adzinstva” Vera Pratasevich. In total that makes more than two thousand US dollars.