On 7 June 1996, Vladimir Belsky, head of the State Press Committee, signed an order for the suspension of the independent business biweekly “Belorousskaya Delovaya Gazeta” (BDG). This action follows the 5 June order of the State Press Committee which stipulated 1 July as the deadline for the renewal of the registration of newspapers and […]
On 7 June 1996, Vladimir Belsky, head of the State Press
Committee, signed an order for the suspension of the independent
business biweekly “Belorousskaya Delovaya Gazeta” (BDG). This
action follows the 5 June order of the State Press Committee
which stipulated 1 July as the deadline for the renewal of the
registration of newspapers and which cancelled the publishing
licence of those newspapers which had violated Article 5 of the
Press Law (“revealing state secrets”). On 4 January, a
presidential decree gave the State Press Committee the power to
oversee the re-registration of all privately-owned media, with
the aim of guaranteeing “the right of the people” to be
“honestly” informed of the activities of government authorities
as well as of current events in Belarus.
The last of five warnings issued since October 1992 by the State
Press Committee to BDG, on 4 June, deals with the 6 May
publication of an article entitled “The President’s elite guard”
which reported on the many special forces under President
Alexander Lukashenko’s command. Following the article’s
publication, the State Security Council reportedly ordered the
KGB to investigate this divulgence of state secrets. On 22 May,
the State Press Committee asked the Minister of Justice to carry
out a “qualified judicial appraisal” of BDG. The Committee stated
that the “motive of the article is to discredit certain elements
of the State….It contains information on the personnel and
activities of the `Alpha’ group of the KGB, the publication of
which is not permitted without the prior authorisation of the
KGB, as stated by section 15.5 of the list of information banned
from being made public. The article [also] contains information
on the organisation of OSAM, a special service branch of the
Belarus border guard, and the mere mention of which is prevented
by paragraph 2.12 of the list. [This action] is not about
securing ideological control of BDG, but merely to enforce
rigorously the press law….”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Gazeta”
resume normal operations
Appeals To
His Excellency Alexander Lukashenko
President
Minsk 220010, Belarus Republic
Fax: +375 172 23 58 25
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
