Prosecutor’s Office Warns Intex-Press Editor and Journalist

23.04.2004.

According to the press service of “Belarusian Association of Journalists”, on 17 April the prosecutor of Baranavichy City Prosecutor’s Office Aliaksandr Smal issued warnings to the chief editor of the public and political weekly “Intex-press” Uladzimir Yanukevich and the correspondent of this edition Maryna Kulikova.

The journalists were charged with violation of part 1 of Article 34 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and articles 32 and 40 of the Law on press. The warning was made on the basis of the complaint of the head of Baranavichy City Executive Committee Viktar Dzichkowski, who was discontented with the article “Scandal in Noble Family” (No.11 of 11 March 2004) about the joining of one of Baranavichy units of the pro-presidential Belarusian Republican Youth Union to the unregistered youth movement “Zubr”. Prosecutor A. Smal stated that the journalists “didn’t check whether the information of the journalists was true”. On 1 April Baranavichy prosecutor’s office tried to summon the author of the article.

It is not the first case when journalists of independent media are punished for alleged distribution of information on behalf of unregistered organizations. On 8 April Hrodna Leninski Borough Prosecutor’s Office warned the chief editor of the independent newspaper “Birzha Infarmatsyi” Alena Rawbetskaya for publication of two articles, written by the head of Hrodna Regional organization of United Civil Party.

The journalists of Intex-press are going to complain against the warnings.