“Gazeta Wyborcza” reporter not allowed to visit Belarus :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarusian border guards haven’t allowed a reporter of “Gazeta Wyborcza” Waclaw Radziwonowicz to travel from Warsaw to Moscow, BelaPAN news agency was told by a correspondent of the newspaper in Hrodna Andrei Poczobutt.

As said by him, the incident took place on July 16 in the night in Brest. “Radziwonowicz is a reporter of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Moscow, where he was destined for. In Brest at about 1 a.m. Belarusian border guards carried out document inspection and then asked him to leave the train. Until 6 a.m. he was kept under convoy at the border. After that he was placed to the train back to Poland,” Poczobutt said.

“However, no stamps banning entry to Belarus were made in W. Radziwonowicz’s passport. He was just advised either to fly to Moscow by plane, or go there via Ukraine,” Poczobutt said.

Earlier Waclaw Radziwonowicz contributed to “Gazeta Wyborcza” as a reporter in Belarus. In September 2006 he was not granted accreditation of Belarusian Foreign Ministry, and he was to leave the country.

In February 2006 Waclaw Radziwonowicz was denied entry to Belarus though he had all necessary documents. In this connection Polish Foreign Ministry sent a note to Belarusian Foreign Ministry.