“Tavarysh” Has a Right for Opinion :: Charter'97 :: News

On October 4 the court of Leninski district on Minsk dismissed a suit of a chairman of the association “Stolichnoe taxi” Ihar Verkhavets against a newspaper “Tovarisch”. As we have informed, a suit of defense of honour and dignity against the newspaper of the Party of Communists of Belarus, “Tovarisch”, has been filed. The case has been filed by a chairman of the association “Stolichnoe taxi” Ihar Verkhavets. The newspaper told about the problems of Minsk taxi drivers many of whom can lose their job in the near future. In an article “Law of Serfdom” in the newspaper “Tovarisch” it was said that in connection with the decree of Transport Ministry on limiting the age of vehicles used for taxi, drivers cannot leave one employee and go to another. In particular, Verkhavets was insulted by the phrase: “Many taxi drivers think that this situation is to Verkhavets’ benefit”.

In its ruling the court of Leninski district referred to Articles 33, 34 of Constitution of Belarus. According to them, any citizen has a right for expression on one’s opinion.

This ruling can be challenged in a higher court in 10-days term according to the law.

The editor of the newspaper Syarhei Vaznyak is satisfied by the ruling of the court. He noted that it is the first time in his practice when a judge issued a ruling based on Constitution. As said by S. Vaznyak, “this trial can become a precedent for all future trials against mass media, as the Constitution had almost never been applied in practice”.