Suit of Belarusian Helsinki Committee Turned Down
On 9 April Pershamayski Borough Court of Minsk turned down the suit of the Board of Belarusian Helsinki Committee and its head Tatsiana Protska to the National State TV and Radio Company.
The court decided that the journalists of Belarusian TV didn’t insult the honor and dignity of BHC members because they “neutrally described the essence of the problem”. According to the PA “Belarusian Association of Journalists”, the defendants didn’t attend the trial.
The reason for the suit on protection of honor and dignity of Mrs. Protska and BHC was a TV broadcast, shown at the first national TV channel on 2 November 2003 with negative treatment of BHC, Tatsiana Protska and other human rights defenders. The defendants in the case were the National TV and Radio Company, the program host Siarhey Khamiantowski and the author of the broadcast Yury Prakopaw.
Judge Aniskevich decided that the distributed information can’t be found insulting as it didn’t contain direct insults to the plaintiffs, didn’t violate the norms of literary Russian language and were “neutral expression of the point of view of the journalists”.
Commenting on the results of the trial, the representative of the plaintiffs Hary Pahaniayla stated that “the court again executed the order of the authorities”. The plaintiffs are going to complain against the decision to Minsk City Court. “We are to use all legal ways to defend our rights. Let the courts be responsible for all the rest”, -- stated H. Pahaniayla in his interview to BAJ press-service.
