Statement made by the Belarusian Association of Journalists upon the situation with the "Narodnaya Vola" daily :: Charter'97 :: News

The Belarusian state authorities delivered the severest attack on the independent press recently. The only Belarusian non-governmental daily "Narodnaya vola" is under the threat of closure these days. It appears most probable that dozens of thousands of its readers won`t be able to receive their favorite periodical starting from October 01, 2005.

Despite the fact the "Narodnaya vola" daily had managed to collect and transfer over 70 million of 100 million Belarusian rubles (approximately USD 46,500), determined by the court as the moral loss compensation to be paid out by the newspaper to Siarhiej Hajdukievich, the Liberal Democrat Party leader and a member of the Chamber of Representatives, the state officials hurried to repudiate contracts of subordinate state-owned organizations with the newspaper. The reasons of repudiations strike by the legal illiteracy and pure cynicism.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists treats the Belarusian state authorities` actions in relation to "Narodnaya vola" as a clearly illegal deed, aimed at closing down the independent periodical on the eve of important social and political events.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists addresses to the Belarusian and international community with an appeal to express solidarity with the "Narodnaya vola" editorial and to lodge a protest in connection with the further mass violations of the Belarusian Constitution, the country`s legislature and international obligations in the field of freedom of speech on the part of the Belarusian state authorities.

Adopted at the Board Meeting of Belarusian Association of Journalists

September 29, 2005