(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 29 April 2002 RSF press release: Report on press freedom violations in Belarus Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières – RSF) published a report today about attacks on press freedom in Belarus (www.rsf.org), which it has described for several years now as among the most serious in the world. […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is a 29 April 2002 RSF press release:
Report on press freedom violations in Belarus
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières – RSF) published a report today about attacks on press freedom in Belarus (www.rsf.org), which it has described for several years now as among the most serious in the world.
Maintenance of a Soviet-style regime after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the authoritarian excesses of President Alexander Lukashenko since 1996 and the country’s resulting international isolation have not helped the situation. Belarus is the only country in Europe that is neither a member or even an observer at the Council of Europe, which Ukraine and Russia have both joined (in 1995 and 1996, respectively).
Freedom of information is key to any hope for democracy in Belarus. The independent media is hampered by state monopolies in printing and distribution, government pressure on TV and radio announcers, subsidies that only go to pro-government media and a ban on funding from abroad.
The disappearance of cameraman Dimitri Zavadski in 2000 shocked the country’s journalists, as did the trial in March this year of his alleged killers, which did not seriously investigate his kidnapping and left many suspicions as to who was really responsible. The campaign for the September 2001 presidential election was marked by much pressure of all kinds on publications that were critical of the authorities.
The RSF report, based on accounts gathered in Minsk this March 2002, describes the overall media situation in Belarus, lists the main attacks on press freedom and discusses prospects for reform as part of a dialogue between Belarusian and European organisations.
