Editorial board of independent socio-political website gets evicted from office
The editorial board of the socio-political website
ex-press.by, created by journalists of the private socio-political newspaper Kur'yer
z Barysava (closed down before the 2006 presidential election), is evicted
from the rented office.
The website is very popular in the region. Many other Internet editions use its
information, knowing that its materials are credible and don't need to be
subject to additional verification. The website is visited by about 5,000 users
a day.
However, workers of the website feel a constant pressurization on the part of
the authorities: they tried to rent an office six times and received only
negative answers, and the citizens who provided them with information were
invited for “talks” by the local KGB. There is a suspicion that the journalists
are watched and their e-mail correspondence and telephone talks are controlled.
Today the owner of the office they have rented for 1.5 years has asked them to
vacate the premises.
Human Rights Chronicle
