(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – In a 19 July 2001 letter to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka, ARTICLE 19 expressed concern over the news of the break-in at the offices of “Dyen'”, a leading Belarusian non-state newspaper, on the night of 16 July. According to ARTICLE 19’s information, on the night of 16 July, several unidentified people let […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – In a 19 July 2001 letter to Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka, ARTICLE 19 expressed concern over the news of the break-in at the offices of “Dyen'”, a leading Belarusian non-state newspaper, on the night of 16 July.
According to ARTICLE 19’s information, on the night of 16 July, several unidentified people let themselves into the “Dyen'” offices and stole the hard drives of three computers. These contained all the material prepared for the newspaper’s special edition on the “disappearances” of several high profile opposition figures, due to be printed on 18 July. Significantly, a laptop and other valuable equipment were left untouched. There is strong reason to believe that the break-in could be connected with recent investigative journalism carried out by “Dyen”‘ staff on the “disappearances.”
This follows another incident on 6 July, when Dom Pechati, the main state printing press, delayed the printing of that day’s issue of “Dyen'” by twenty-four hours, allegedly because the extra copies required could not be printed without preliminary notice, although the necessary paperwork had already been submitted. The issue only appeared on sale on 9 July. This particular issue contained an interview with Ivan Titenkov, a former close aide to President Lukashenka and head of the Presidential Administration’s property department. In the interview, Titenkov was highly critical of Lukashenka and revealed details of weapons sales to Iraq and evidence linking the Belarusian authorities to the “disappearances.”
The 17 July issue has another front-page article on documents pointing to the Belarusian leadership’s involvement in the “disappearance” of opposition representatives Viktor Gonchar, Yuri Zakharenko and Anatoly Krasovsky.
Break-ins and burglaries at the offices of non-state newspapers and NGOs have become increasingly common in Belarus. On 4 November 2000, the newspaper “Shak”‘s offices in Baranovichi were broken into. This year, the offices of the Legal Assistance Centre, the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Centre for Human Rights were also targeted.
Failure by police to effectively investigate previous burglaries at newspaper premises and criticism of the Belarusian government in Dyen’s articles has raised a question of state involvement in such acts.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– condemning any attempts by the authorities to cover up their own wrong-doings
– stating that the government should never obstruct journalists from carrying out their professional duty to act as government watchdog in informing the public about such manifestly important incidents
– asking him to publicly condemn the above break-in
– requesting that he initiate a vigorous investigation into the robbery, with the aim of bringing to justice those responsible for raids at newspaper premises
– calling on him to initiate a thorough investigation in order to bring to justice those responsible for the “disappearances” of Gonchar, Krasovsky and Zaharenko
– asking him to cease intimidation of the media, which is in clear violation of Belarus’s international obligations to guarantee freedom of expression under Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
– calling on him instead to encourage the development of a culture of openness, which is an essential part of the democratisation process in Belarus
Appeals To
H.E. Aleksandr Lukashenka
Presidential Administration
ul. Karla Marksa 36
220010 Minsk
Belarus
Fax: +375 17 223 58 25
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
