(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN BELARUS IS BEING USED AS A TOOL TO OBSTRUCT PUBLIC DEBATE ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, is concerned about the unfair court proceedings by which the illegitimate suspension of the newspaper ‘Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta’ was confirmed in Minsk […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:
JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN BELARUS IS BEING USED AS A TOOL TO OBSTRUCT PUBLIC DEBATE
ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, is concerned about the unfair court proceedings by which the illegitimate suspension of the newspaper ‘Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta’ was confirmed in Minsk on 19 June 2003.
On 19 June 2003, the Belarusian Higher Economic Court in an appeal trial of ‘Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta’ (BDG) against the Ministry of Information ruled in favor of the Ministry of Information, thereby upholding the three-month suspension of BDG. ARTICLE 19, present at the court hearing, notes that this judgement was pronounced by the court in the absence of any proof or clear justification of why Belarusian legislation had been violated.
BDG was suspended on 28 May 2003 for three months on the basis of two warnings received from the Ministry of Information. One of the warnings was issued on grounds that a BDG journalist, when reporting on a corruption trial against a businessman, had done so in violation of certain court proceedings. The other warning was given because the paper reprinted an article from a Russian newspaper that was found defamatory of President Lukashenka. In both cases it is disputable whether the newspaper broke any Belarusian legislation.
The cases certainly are a blatant violation of those human rights and freedom of expression principles which Belarus has signed up to as a full member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations. The suspension of a newspaper is a highly disproportionate measure and therefore illegitimate. Cases such as this one stifle the discussion of matters of public concern in the Belarusian media.
ARTICLE 19 appeals to President Aleksander Lukashenka and the Ministry of Information to:
– annul the suspension of ‘Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta’;
– take measures to increase the independence of the judiciary and guarantee fair trials;
– ensure other newspapers, who have also been given two or more warnings, will not be subject to the same treatment.