Petkevich Explained What “Fraudulent Representation Of Belarus” Means :: Charter'97 :: News

In connection with the new amendments to the Criminal Code, the newspaper “KP in Belarus” asked the deputy head of the presidential administration Natallya Pyatkevich to explain what “fraudulent representation of Belarus” means.

“If somebody says that bears are walking down the streets here, it would be the information known to be unfound. If somebody is saying that people are beaten up here in the morning, in midday and in the evening, it is the fraudulent representation as well, as it’s not true,” Natallya Pyatkevich said.

-- But there are just evaluations. One could say that Belarus experiences economic advance, and average wage has reached USD 250. And another person could say to foreigners that in Belarus people have a beggarly wage of USD 250, which is tragically not enough for our high costs.

-- If one would say that we have a beggarly wage of USD 250, it would not be fraudulent representation. How is fraudulent representation recognized? If I would say you are a blonde (I am a brunette- reporter.), it would be the information known to be unfound. I see you. And I could say that you have brown hair, it’s a gradation of colour, and so on. Objectivity and impartiality is controlled by this word “wittingly”. If one says we have a budget of 5 billion, and in reality it is 5.1 billion, it would be false information, but a person could be unaware of the concrete figure. And “fraudulent representation” means a person who provides information knows it is false.