The Ministry of Information pronounced a warning to an independent newspaper “Kurjer z Barysava”.

The Barysau publication is claimed to have violated the Law on Press. As the Chief Editor of the newspaper informed, the newspaper received a double warning. “Firstly, they considered that if we are an advertising-informative newspaper than we have no right to print information about politics; though it is nowhere stated what is information about politics. Secondly, in the date-line the founder should be put as a chief editor”, the editor of the “Curier” said.

According to the newspaper’s employees the Ministry punished them for informing the citizens of Barysau about the activity of local democratic organizations.

Today “Curjer” has a wide public who orient on democratic values.

The newspaper is printed twice per week and has the circulation of 18000 copies.

Belarusian Association of Journalists also considers the accusations to be false.

“In this situation the activity of the Ministry can be openly called censorship as they make a warning judging from the contents of the articles. In the first place this is an advertising newspaper. And promotional materials take the needed part of it. There is no violation in it. I consider this warning as well as all other acts adopted by the ministry recently to be an unhealthy activity of this institution and interruption of the state in the work of the press which is impossible in a democratic country”, Andrej Bastunets, the vice chair of the BAJ informed Radio Liberty.