The Belarusian Association of Journalists expresses solidarity and support to all its colleagues, including the foreign ones, who have met difficulties with access to information in Belarus and are facing restrictions of their professional activity.(16-MARCH-06)

Our Media Monitoring is abundant in alarming facts, which prove true that the problem of freedom of speech in Belarus has touched the neighboring territories.

On March 12, there were detained officially accredited TV journalists from “The 5th Channel” (Ukraine) at the moment of their live report. Another officially registered journalist team from the same TV channel was not let entrance to Belarus at night from March 14 to March 15, 2006.

On March 13, the Belarusian problems with the press freedom unexpectedly showed up in the Russian Federation. All at once, Smolensk Printing House refused to continue cooperation with the Belarusian independent periodicals “Narodnaya Vola,” “BDG. Delovaya Gazeta” and “Tovarisch.”

The Polish journalists regularly face problems with getting authorizations for entrance and work in Belarus. Journalists from other countries quite often phone to BAJ and complain they can’t get official accreditations at the Belarus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

These actions break article 19 of the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Republic of Belarus that ensures “the freedom to seek, get and disseminate information and ideas of any kind, irrespective of state borders either in the oral or written way as well as by means of publishing and artistic expression or any other way for choice.”

We are indignant at the fact of intrusion into our foreign colleagues’ activity. Also, it should be stressed that the Belarusian journalists very frequently come across even more serious difficulties, while carrying out their professional duties. Moreover, they face inadmissible violence on the part of legal authorities. The most scandalous event took place on March 2, when a “Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus” correspondent Aleh Ulevich was hospitalized with a craniocerebral injury and the nose fracture.

We would like to remind the representatives of state authorities about the necessity to observe the Belarus’ legal obligations, the norms of Belarus’ Constitution and the Press Law. Once again, we would like to draw attention of Belarus’ national security structures that in accordance with article 30 of the Press Law, a journalist is allowed to be present at the places, where some natural disasters, accidents or catastrophes have taken place. Also, a journalist can pass information from meetings, rallies or other socially important events.

Board of Belarusian Association of Journalists
March 15, 2006