New York, March 7, 2003—A Belarusian court ruled on Tuesday, March 4, that jailed journalist Mikola Markevich, editor-in-chief of the independent weekly newspaper Pahonya, could serve the remainder of his sentence in his hometown of Hrodna, in western Belarus. Markevich will be allowed to reside with his family, but he will now have to register…
New York, November 19, 2002—A body suspected to be that of Mykhailo Kolomyets, director of Ukrainski Novyny news agency, was found on October 30 hanging from a tree in a forest in northwestern Belarus, near the city of Maladzechna, said a news report that Ukrainski Novyny published today. Kolomyets’ colleagues at the news agency said…
New York, September 16, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by today’s conviction of Viktar Ivashkevich, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Rabochy. A Minsk district court found Ivashkevich guilty of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko and sentenced him to two years’ hard labor. Under the Belarusian Criminal Code, defaming the president is punishable by…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by your government’s continued use of libel lawsuits and official harassment in its unyielding assault on the independent press in Belarus. Your Excellency’s repressive regime systematically violates the fundamental right of press freedom and forces independent journalists to work in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
New York, June 25, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns yesterday’s conviction of Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika, both of the independent weekly newspaper Pahonya. The Leninsky District Court in the city of Hrodno, in western Belarus, found editor-in-chief Markevich and journalist Mazheika guilty of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The journalists were sentenced to…
New York, June 19, 2002—Belarusian journalists Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika, both of the independent weekly newspaper Pahonya, will give their final statements on Friday, June 21, in their ongoing criminal libel case. If convicted, the prosecution has requested prison terms of two-and-a-half years for editor-in-chief Markevich and two years for reporter Mazheika, said Belarusian…
New York, April 9, 2002—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the criminal prosecution of Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika, editor-in-chief and reporter, respectively, at the Hrodno-based independent weekly Pahonya. The journalists are accused of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko and face up to five years in prison if convicted. The trial, which was set to…
New York, April 2, 2002—CPJ calls for an independent, international inquiry into the July 2000 disappearance of Belarusian cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky. Although two former members of the elite Almaz special forces unit were recently convicted of kidnapping Zavadsky, local sources view them as scapegoats. CPJ is disturbed that state prosecutors failed to investigate allegations that…
The exhilarating prospect of broad press freedoms that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago has faded dramatically in much of the post-communist world. A considerable decline in press freedom conditions in Russia during the last year, along with the stranglehold authoritarian leaders have imposed on media in Central Asia, the Caucasus,…