"Nasha Niva" publishes its 10 April issue with white spots to express solidarity with "Press-Photo of Belarus"
"Nasha Niva" removed all photos from the front page of 10 April
The private Belarusian newspaper "Nasha
Niva" removed all photographs from the front page of todays
issue and published a large heading: "Beware of Extremism!"
on the front page.
According to the newspaper editor Andrei
Skurko, this was done to express protest against the attempts of the
KGB to declare extremist the albums "Press-Photo of Belarus"
for 2011.
"This is a protest reaction against the attempt
to blow up another extremism case out of nothing. This would be an
absurd case if our colleagues weren't summonsed to court and the
security services didn't trike to present the album "Press-Photo
of Belarus" as an edition containing extremist materials. We
consider it as a violation of freedom of the press, an attempt of a
crackdown on freedom of expression in Belarus, and think that it is
necessary to react to it. That's why we chose such a way to draw the
attention of our readers to this issue. "Press-Photo of Belarus"
is a collection of photos, not even journalist materials.
Photographers just register the reality, and the attempts to impose
one's vision on photographers and tell them what to shoot and what
not to shoot would look ridiculous in the civilized world. The
authorities are trying to teach journalists how and what to do. If we
don't react to such excesses today, somebody may decide to bring a
new case, similar to the case of the Union of Liberation of Belarus
(as in 1930-ies), look for "public enemies", etc. That's
why we think that it is absolutely necessary to react," said
Andrei Skurko.
The albums "Press-Photo of Belarus",
confiscated by the Belarusian customs office last year, were found
extremist as a result of an expert examination conducted by the staff
of Hrodna State University and the local ideologists. The court
proceedings were initiated by the KGB.
Photographers Yuliya
Darashkevich (an organizers of the "Press-Photo of Belarus"
contest), Vadzim Zamirouski and Aliaksandr Vasiukovich have been
summonsed to the trial, which will take place in Ashmiany on 17
April, as an interested party.
