Journalist of the “Kremlin pool” accompanying Vladimir Putin in his trip to the CIS summit in Minsk, has decided to leave the venue of the summit. The organizers of the event haven’t allowed previously accredited Moscow journalists, representing newspapers “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” and “Kommersant”, to work at the summit. It is known that a press photographer of “Kommersant” Dmitry Azarov, a reporter of “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” Natalya Galimova and a press photographer of “MK” Alexander Astafyev. Russian journalists have foud such actions inappropriate, especially at the international event, and left together with their colleagues.
It is worth mentioning that the “MK” has published an article “The demon rum in Lukashenka’s land. In fairy native village of Lukashenka his relatives are losing themselves into drinking”. The article was published right before the meeting of Lukashenka with Putin in Moscow. A journalist Natalya Bobrova without Foreign Ministry accreditation visited the native village of Lukashenka and met his close relatives. Many of them, as the article states, are chronic alcoholics or live in poverty. The journalist has also touched upon the topic sensitive for the Belarusian leader, who his father was after all… It seems that Lukashenka is not to forgive such things…
As we have informed, a few days before a journalist of “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” Denis Ermakov was not allowed to be present at the CIS summit in Minsk.
“All the approaches to the National Library where the official event was held, were cleared from Minsk dwellers in advance. And every journalist was asked to present ID several times at the distance of several hundred metres from the building. Men with walkie-talkie were following the movement of journalists. “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” is approaching, please meet him,” I heard a KGB man talking behind my back. And I was met…”You are not on the list, we cannot let you in,” told guards who checked the documents of people entering the building. It turned out that our newspaper had been cancelled without any explanations. All efforts of Fradkov’s press-service to influence the Belarusian authorities were futile. The government of the county and the Foreign Ministry denied comments, saying unofficially that “the Belarusian side is categorically against of this newspaper correspondent’s participation in the event”. And that the decision had been passed at the level of Lukashenka’s administration,” Ermakov said.
However, it is known that representative of the Russian TV companies are left at the summit. They have decided that the Russian society should know about the events there.
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