"Arche" magazine denied re-registration again

The first time the application was filed late in autumn in 2012, and ended with refusal.

“I submitted the documents as one of the founders of the organization which is going to be the publisher of the magazine Arche”, says Ales Pashkevich who is now performing chief editor’s tasks. “We did the same thing the previous time; then the problem appeared with my qualifications as an editor-in-chief. This time we applied for Valery Bulhakau to be an editor-in-chief. But the Ministry of Information says now that we do not observe the very procedure of submitting documents.”

The Ministry has only informed in oral form; the written answer due in a week will provide details on what grounds the magazine is denied registration.

We remind that the magazine Arche has its bank account suspended since 4 October 2012 because of a check-up of the Department of Financial Investigations of the State Control Committee. The former editor of the magazine Valery Bulhakau temporarily left the country, fearing possible legal action. The editorial team of the magazine decided to register another company and continue publishing until the check-up ends with whatever results. In November they filed an application to register the company “Gaisak”, but the Ministry of Information refused under the pretext that the would-be editor-in-chief (now acting chief editor of Arche) Ales Pashkevich does not have proper qualifications (five years’ experience in an appropriate administrative position).