10.06.2009 DDOs attack on website of Charter’97 lasts for third day already

Two days ago the DDoS attack on the website of the civil initiative has begun. According to their information, the attack is conducted from more than 5000 zombie computers. As a result of the attack the website was blocked for more than a day.

02.06.2009 Aleh Vouchak appeals against the verdict on his lawsuit to ‘SB-Belarus Segodnia’

On 1 June the human rights defender Aleh Vouchak filed a cassation complaint to the college board on civil cases of Savetski district court of Minsk to appeal against the verdict, issued on 15 May on his lawsuit against the newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya on protection of honor, dignity and business reputation and compensation of the moral harm.

01.06.2009 Journalist Tamara Shchapiotkina warned for presence at commemorative picket

On 29 May the court of Biaroza district issued an administrative punishment in the form of warning to Radio Racyja reporter Tamara Shchapiotkina for ‘violation of public order during a mass action’.

22.05.2009 Zhanna Litvina says authorities keep refusing to do anything to do with mass media

During the 7th congress of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, taking place in Minsk, its head Zhanna Litvina said the society, being deprived of information, is doomed to economic, political and social crisis. According to Mrs.Litvina, free access to information keeps being the main problem of contemporary Belarusian journalism. ‘The authorities keep refusing to do anything to do with journalists, which is favoured by the Belarusian law on state service, obliging officials to coordinate any information to be provided to journalists with their superior officers.

21.05.2009 Trial over Tamara Shchapiotkina remitted

According to RFE/RL, the independent journalist Tamara Shchapiotkina, detained by Biaroza town police during a picket on 26 April, will have to appear in court on 29 May, following her request to hear several police witnesses of the arrest. The journalist is accused of violating Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code – ‘disturbing public order during mass actions. According to the famous Brest human rights activist Raman Kisliuk, ‘the arrest is the violation of her right to free expression of opinions.’

21.05.2009 Reporters without Borders: Lukashenka playing triple game

Representatives of Reporters without Borders blame the Belarusian authorities of pressing the opposition.

Only slightly changes in the situation with freedom of media can be noticed in Belarus, representative of Representatives of Reporters Elsa Vidal said on May 20. The human rights activist thinks there are different levers of pressure upon the Belarusian ruler in this sector, but it’s “very difficult to press on Alyaksandr Lukashenka”, Deutsche Welle reports.

15.05.2009 Minsk: court defends ‘Sovetskaya Belorussiya’

The court of Savetski district of Minsk dismissed the claim of the human rights defender Aleh Vouchak to Sovetskaya Belorussia, a newspaper of Lukashenka’s Administration for defense of honor, dignity and business reputation.

14.05.2009 Belarusian Internet provider passes KGB warning to their clients

On 13 May the clients of SOLO Internet service provider have received a strange letter from the director of the company.

14.05.2009 Belarus is on the fourth position in electronic media control rating

According to the research of an independent US company Cryptohippie, Belarus takes the third position in the rating of the countries with the strongest electronic control.

06.05.2009 Mahiliou oblast court does turns down cassation complaint of 'Volny Horad'

On 6 May Mahiliou oblast court finished the consideration of the cassation complaint of Siarhei Niarouny, editor of the non-state Krychau newspaper Volny Horad and the founder of the newspaper Uladzimir Kudrautsau against the ruling of Chavusy district court of 17 February.

04.05.2009 Journalist’s complaint brings no result

As it follows from the letter, received by the journalist Ivan Roman, the head of Leninski district branch of the custodial service of Hrodna, police major Zaikou thinks that his subordinates were right when they did not let the journalist to the open court hearings.

04.05.2009 Belarusian Language Society demands that a Belarusian TV channel be established by autumn

In the beginning of April the head of the Belarusian Language Society Aleh Trusau addressed the head of the presidential administration Uladzimir Makei with the request to establish a Belarusian-language TV channel. According to Mr. Trusau, absence of such a channel deprives the citizens of holistic informational space in their native language. Калі да восені не вырашыцца пытанне пра стварэнне беларускамоўнага дзяржаўнага тэлеканала, Таварыства беларускай мовы імя Францішка Скарыны ў верасні пачне збор подпісаў грамадзян пад адпаведным зваротам да ўлады.

30.04.2009 KGB blames journalists of discrediting Belarus with articles about crisis

KGB officers detained a journalist and warned he must write something positive about the authorities.

Otherwise Ivan roman was threatened with a criminal case for “discrediting the Republic of Belarus”.

Officers of the KGB department for the Hrodna region detained journalist Ivan Roman, member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, in Hrodna yesterday. He is a correspondent of Radio Racyja and an author of Magazyn Polski, published by the Union of Poles of Belarus, unrecognized by the Belarusian authorities. The journalist was given a written warning about responsibility for discrediting Belarus.

21.04.2009 Independent journalist Liubenchuk fined

Judge Yury Harbatouski has found independent journalist Ales Liubenchuk guilty of violing public order and fined him BYR 700,000. Ales Liubenchuk was arrested on 16 April after a trial over Zmitser Khvedaruk as he tried to take picture of a plainclothes policeman. ‘It looks like the police have not had the time to give the same evidence, for their words were completely different. After all, I do not understand how the judge could find me guilty,’ said the journalist after the trial.

20.04.2009 Police seize journalists’ equipment

On 17 April Kletsk town police detained journalist Siarhei Panamarou and his crew and confiscated their video camera. The police refused to state the reasons for the arrest. Neither did they familiarize the journalists with the arrest report. The journalists were arrested on their trip to the town of Kletsk as they were making a report on the destruction of historical and architectural monuments of the region. Siarhei Panamarou thinks the arrest may be tied to his civil activity in the For Freedom movement. According to the BAJ’s press service, Mr.Panamarou has lodged a complaint against the arrest with Kletsk district prosecutor’s office. He considers the incident ‘a classical robbery’ and requests that the prosecutor ‘prosecute the policemen under the Criminal Code.’