16.11.2009 Vitsebsk: Barys Khamaida detained once more

Detentions of Vitsebsk oppositionist and distributor of independent press are getting regular. According to RFE/RL, policemen detain Barys Khamaida and place to the Chyhynachny district police department of Vitsebsk.

12.11.2009 Ministry of Information denied registration to ‘Prefekt Plus’ newspaper

As the press service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, this is the sixth registration denial to ‘unreliable’ media outlets for the last three months. On 10 November the founder of the regional newspaper Prefekt Plus (the town of Hlybokae, Vitsebsk oblast) was returned the document he had sent to the ministry for the official registration on 7 October.

11.11.2009 Road police try to hinder activities of ‘BelSat’ film crew

A film crew of Belsat TV channel came to Navahradak on 11 November to shot an item about the monument to Lenin poured with paint.

06.11.2009 Ministry of Information denied registration to ‘Maryinahorskaya’ newspaper

The Ministry of Information returned to the founder of the non-state sociopolitical regional newspaper Maryinahorskaya the document that were filed for the state registration of the edition.

06.11.2009 Biaroza: journalists detained at ‘Nioman’ glass plant

Policemen detained journalists Aloaksandr Dzianisau and Aliaksandr Khilimon at the glass plant Nioman.

05.11.2009 ‘BelSat’ director not let in Belarus again

Agzieszka Romaszewska, who was going to Minsk on the invitation of the organizers of Minsk Forum XII on 4 November as a guest of honor, was denied the Belarusian visa.

04.11.2009 Authorities threaten to mass media for writing about swine flu in Belarus

Officials of the Information Ministry will keep a close watch on what is written about flu outbreak by registered media outlets and their websites.

03.11.2009 Homel: journalists detained for public poll on swine flu

The independent journalists Tatsiana Bublikava and Aleh Ryzhkou were detained in Homel.

30.10.2009 BAJ never got answer to complaint regarding attack on journalists

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Minsk prosecutor’s office haven’t responded to the appeal of the Belarusian Association of Journalists regarding the events on September 16.

The journalists are going to file a complaint to higher authorities if an answer is not received by next week.

Euroradio learnt this from BAJ deputy head, lawyer Andrei Bastunets.

“Theoretically, the letter might have been sent, but a post office hasn’t delivered it. We are going to wait for some days, if we don’t get a response, we’ll complain.

29.10.2009 Small newspaper Brama gets warning by Prosecutor’s Office

Ales Yazvinski, editor-in-chief of the Niasvizh-based small independent newspaper, has received an official warning by the local Prosecutor’s Office for violating Article 23 of the Law on Mass Media, the press-service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists reports. According to Mr. Yazvinski, the warning was served upon him by Niasvizh District Prosecutor Andrei Kamornik. The warning claims that Mr. Yazvinski failed to submit free copies of the newspaper to a number of local state bodies, as it is required by the law. The Brama independent newspaper has been published since 2000 with a circulation of 299 copies in the town of Niasvizh (Minsk Region) and its neighbourhood.

28.10.2009 Militia didn’t answer to BAJ appeal over attack on journalists

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) hasn’t received an answer to its appeal concerning the events on September 16, though the deadline was on October 23.

BAJ head Zhanna Litvina told journalists would wait for a reply for a day.

“We haven’t got an official response. Maybe, it was sent on the final day, it may have taken more time because of the weekend. We are waiting until tomorrow,” Litvina told in an interview to Euroradio.

We remind that on September 16, officers of the law enforcement agencies used physical force to hinder journalist of Belarusian and foreign media to perform their professional duties. This happened during a picket of memory of politician Viktar Hanchar and businessman Anatol Krasouski, disappeared 10 years ago.

23.10.2009 Authorities tighten their control over Internet: Providers to be allowed to block websites

The Interior Ministry insists that providers should control respect for author’s rights on the Belarusian Internet.

The new version of the Belarusian law “On Copyright and Related Rights” prescribes actions of an Internet service provider in case when author’s rights violation is detected, “Interfax” was informed by head of the department on intellectual property defence of the Chief Directorate on Corruption and Economic crimes control of the criminal police of the Interior Ministry of Belarus, lieutenant colonel Alyaksandr Kuznyatsou.

23.10.2009 Journalists to be supervised by special police unit, says Interior Ministry

The Belarusian police are going to reform their means of contacting journalists during demonstrations and rallies, says Deputy Minister of the Interior Yauhen Poludzen. The official said special ‘press-officers’ would soon be supervising journalists working at mass actions. They will be wearing blue retro-reflective vests. Besides, the rallies will be supervised by policemen in red retro-reflective vests. They will talk to the demonstrators who do not want to obey ‘the legal orders’ by the police.

20.10.2009 Belarus leaps 4 positions in Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index

The Reporters without Borders international organization has issued its annual index of freedom of the press, placing Belarus 151st out of 175 countries. ‘Indicators point to a deterioration in the press freedom situation in almost all of the former Soviet Republics except Georgia (81st) and, to a lesser extent, Belarus (151st), whose government has initiated a cautious and so far limited improvement in its relations with the press as part of a renewed dialogue with the EU. It is hard at this stage to predict whether this ripple on the surface will swell or fade away’, says the report.

19.10.2009 New Gross Violations of Journalists’ Rights in Minsk

Journalists who were covering a street Solidarity Action in the center of Minsk were roughly prevented from fulfilling their professional duties.

Police officers did not allow journalists to make pictures of the action. According to reporters, the police acted even rougher than during the similar events of 9 and 16 September. Each photo and video journalist had several officers in plain clothes who tried to prevent reporters from filming the action.