Workers Compelled to Subscribe For Newspapers :: Charter'97 :: News

In Svetlahorsk all workers of the production association Khimvalakno are compelled to subscribe for the newspaper of the “Belarusian youth public association of lifeguards-firemen”. The newspaper “Young lifeguard” is published in Minsk.

In one of the recent issues the newspaper told, for instance, “from which guns our ancestors shot during the battle near Poltava and when the fortress of Izmail was stormed”, about awarding diplomas to young firemen at the memorial complex “Stalin’s line”; that the oldest generation in Bulgaria speaks both Bulgarian and Russian”. The circulation of the newspaper is 91,000 copies.

The workers of the enterprise think that to subscribe for the newspaper of this public association is proposed by inspector of the state fire inspection (who in their turn had been ordered to do so by their superiors). The management of the Khimvalakno has to agree, otherwise inspectors would turn attention to violations of safety rules. However the enterprise does not allocate money for subscription.

As the belngo.info reporter was told by one of the workers, in the shop floor money is colleted and collective subscription is drawn.

The imprint of the newspaper does not contain the time of publishing and price or the indication that it is distributed for free, which is required by the Article 26 of the Law on press. Meanwhile, for many newspapers “incomplete imprint” is often the reason for confiscation and fines of distributors.