“The State for the People,” edition of 2 March 2006. “Soviet Belorussia” presents the programme of President , who is running for a fourth term. : INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA

March 2006 Reporters Without Borders Europe Desk 5, rue Geoffroy Marie - 75009 Tél : (33) 1 44 83 84 84 - Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51 E-mail : [email protected] - Web : www.rsf.org The Belarusian news media have never been independent press in the past two years. subject to so much harassment as now, three Thanks to state-owned monopolies, the govern- days before the 19 March presidential election. ment controls the entire network of newspaper First elected president in 1994 and now running production and distribution. It is easy to elimi- for a fourth term, Alexander Lukashenko has nate a newspaper in this centrally-controlled concentrated all power in himself and controls economy. You terminate its printing contracts, this former Soviet republic, and its nearly 10 mil- you terminate its contracts for distribution to lion inhabitants, with an iron hand. Notorious for news stands and by subscription, you prevent it once commenting that “not everything was so from selling advertising space by putting pres- bad in the famous Adolf Hitler’s ,” sure on all the advertisers, and you bring law- Lukashenko is quick to get rid of opponents. If suits in order to throttle it with heavy fines and they are lucky, he forces them into exile. If they damages awards. are not, he allegedly has them eliminated physi- cally. At the end of 2005, 13 independent newspapers suddenly found that the state-owned postal ser- He has not spared journalists in his quest for vice, Belpochta, had dropped them from the list power. Dimitri Zavadski, a cameraman who wor- of publications whose subscriptions it would ked for the Russian TV station ORT, is the best- continue to deliver in 2006. There used to be known case. He disappeared in 2000 without privately-owned distribution companies in his body ever being found. To hold on to the top Belarus, but their licences were withdrawn. job, Lukashenko sidestepped the constitution Around this time, the same independent news- by holding a referendum in October 2004 in papers found their printing contracts had been which he asked Belarusians to let him have ano- terminated by the state-owned press, Krasnaya ther term. Originally scheduled for July 2006, Zvezda. In order to keep their print versions the election was brought forward to 19 March at going, several newspapers turned to a Russian the behest of Lukashenko, who rules by “ukaz” printer in Smolensk, 320 km west of the (presidential decree) and does not have to give Belarusian capital, . But this is expensive. any explanations. It forced the independent newspapers Narodnaya Volya and BG Delovaya Gazeta By advancing the date of the elections, (BDG) to reduce their print runs considerably Lukashenko caught everyone unprepared – his and to publish weekly instead of two or three political opponents, the news media and the times a week. international observers deployed throughout the country by the Organisation for Security and The state-owned company Belsoyuzdruk, Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the which has the press distribution monopoly, elections. Now the man who once said “my began barring independent newspapers from dream is to continue fighting with a weapon in sale on news stands at the start of last winter. my hand until the end” is on the point of winning Narodnaya Volya, which was the country’s only another election whose outcome is known in independent daily, was withdrawn from the advance. Called “Europe’s last dictator” by news stands in October, like many others. Washington, he has swept all obstacles from his Opposition newspapers have completely disap- path, doing everything possible to reduce the peared from the news stands. The latest to independent media to silence and gaining com-

: disappear is, Zhoda, the social-democratic plete control of the news circulating inside his movement’s newspaper, which was raided by country. Only the Internet is not yet under his the secret services and then suspended at the control. end of February. Foreign publications also can- not be found, except for the Russian dailies Free press on the brink Izvestia and Komsomolskaya Pravda, which rarely write about Belarus. The provincial press of extinction has not been spared either. Such reputable newspapers as Birzha Informaciji, Novaja Advanced gradually, using an arsenal of finely Gazeta Smorgoni and Kurier iz Borisova have tuned bureaucratic weapons, the Belarusian been closed down or suspended. At the end of INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS authorities have virtually wiped out the country’s 2005, the authorities also banned Glos znad 2 Niemna, the newspaper of Belarus’s Polish nor definitely closed down. But the government minority, which is subject to government deprives them of all means of subsistence and harassment. forces them to use informal distribution net- works. Copies of these newspapers are someti- Today, only two independent newspapers, mes mailed to their subscribers inside envelo- BelGazeta and Belorusy I Rynok, have permis- pes, directly from the newspaper’s office. This is sion to be sold on news stands in the capital. what BDG and Narodnaya Gazeta do. The BDG With print runs of 20,000 and 11,000, these two print runs are less than 5,000 and 30,000 for weeklies cannot compete with the big-circula- Narodnaya Gazeta and they organise their own tion state newspapers. According to the distribution. Their most committed readers pass Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), the copies from hand to hand as in the good old newspaper published by the president’s office, days of the samizdats circulated by Soviet dis- Sovietskaya Bielorussia, increased its daily print sidents. Some newspapers, such as the former run from 200,000 to 500,000 last spring. weeklies Nasha Niva and Solidarnost, have cea- sed to produce a print version and just have an BELARUSIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS (BAJ) electronic version on the Internet.

A non-governmental organisation founded in In all, there are two independent national news- 1995, the BAJ defends free speech, the right of papers still available at news stands, BelGazeta access to independent information, and profes- and Belorusy I Rynok, two others, BDG and sional standards of journalism. It has more than Narodnaya Gazeta, that are struggling to keep 1,000 members from every kind of news media, going, and one privately-owned news agency, both state and privately-owned, and has repre- BelaPan, based in the capital. The US govern- sentatives in the provinces. It has been affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists ment-funded Radio Svaboda (called Radio Free since 1997 and to Reporters Without Borders Europe/Radio Liberty in English), still broad- since 2003. casts clandestinely in Belarus, as in the Soviet era. The foreign news agencies AP, Reuters and The BAJ has legal centre for the protection of Agence France-Presse and the German public the news media that represents its members in radio station have Belarusian court and in their dealings with other state enti- correspondents but no bureaux registered with ties. The centre also provides legal advice and the authorities. analyses press legislation. The BAJ monitors and issues statements about press law viola- tions and conflicts between the authorities and “BDG must be closed” - news media. Its representatives are closely wat- ched by the secret services and are searched autopsy of an independent thoroughly whenever they leave or enter the newspaper country.

In 2004, the BAJ was awarded the European BG Delovaya Gazeta – usually called BDG parliament’s Sakharov Prize for what the parlia- because its original name was Beloruskaya ment’s president, Joseph Borrell Fontelles, cal- Delovaya Gazeta – used to be one of the best led its “fight for freedom of information against known and most prosperous newspapers in

: President Lukashenko’s attempts to smother it.” Minsk. Created just after Belarus became inde- pendent in 1992, it gradually specialised in poli- tical and business news. It built up a large rea- Government aid is substantial. The amount dership and went from being a weekly to a assigned in the budget for governmental news- biweekly. After making a fortune, BDG owner papers has doubled in the two years from 2004 and editor Piotr Martsev set up his own publi- to 2006, going from around 30 million to 60 mil- shing house and launched three other newspa- lion dollars. pers: Imya, BDG Dlia Slujebnogo Polzovania and Avtomobilnyi. His group was able to have An entire section of the press can now do no its own distribution network because at that more than hope to survive. Generally, indepen- stage no restrictive law regulated the sector. INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS dent newspapers are neither officially banned According to Martsev, the country’s best 3 journalists used to work at BDG. Now it is on president’s office forced retail outlets to break the verge of bankruptcy and they gone off to their contract with the newspaper. In 2005, work in or Germany. BDG was besieged with libel suits and was sentenced to pay 150,000 dollars (125,000 According to a former journalist who only euros) in damages to an official and a fine of 50 recently left BDG, it was by far the best newspa- ,000 dollars (41,000 euros). Within two months, per in terms of the quality and objectivity of its the newspaper found itself in the red. It recei- news coverage. Its reputation was such that ved another sentence after a visit by the tax people wanted to be interview by it. The indus- police, although the finance minister acknow- try minister, for example, was delighted to be ledged that BDG did not owe any taxes. given the chance to answer its questions and the newspaper’s journalists needed no special At its heyday, BDG had 140 employees. Today permission to contact him. All of its reporters just 22 are left. One after another, most of the had the direct number of government ministers, journalists have left to try their luck and seek who were always ready to talk. better salaries elsewhere. BDG is no longer able to cope with the financial problems resul- But things started going downhill in 1999, ting from the severance of contracts by the when it became obligatory to register with the state-owned monopolies and the court senten- state press distributor. The differences with the ces. Printing was moved to the Russian city of president and other government officials Smolensk but the Russian printer announced accentuated. Libel suits and court summonses on 13 March, just six days before that presi- became frequent. Journalists were often refu- dential elections, that it would not longer print sed accreditation. Since 2005, every govern- the newspaper. ment and state institution requires journalists to be accredited with it before it will make any Operating out of a discreet office with no sign statement. outside to indicate that it is BDG’s headquar- BDG investigated corruption and the increasin- ters, Martsev is continuing to edit the latest gly-frequent political disappearances – sub- issue but it could be for the last time. Despite jects that were likely to cause a great deal of tempting offers, he has refused financial help friction with the authorities. At first, the autho- from any political parties as well as the presi- rities used legal means to punish the newspa- dent’s proposals to buy the newspaper. With a per but President Lukashenko said in 2003: print run of barely 5,000, BDG today sells all “BDG must be closed down.” It was suspen- its copies from premises that could easily be ded for three months. The presidential guard mistaken for a clandestine outlet for illegal sent vehicles all over Minsk to intercept BDG products. trucks as they were distributing copies. Entire print runs were confiscated. Many independent newspapers have suffered a similar fate to BDG’s in the past two years. BDG has had to change its name five times in The government does everything possible to order to continue publishing. Its subscriber ensure that it is the newspapers themselves distribution contracts were broken by the state who throw in the towel so that it cannot be postal service in October 2003, isolating it from accused of closing them down. The death of a

: many of its readers, especially those in the newspaper is slow and painful in Belarus. provinces. At the same time, BDG was exclu- ded by the state-owned company that has the news stands distribution monopoly. To cap No place for the opposition everything, a press law was passed by the in the media Lukashenko-dominated parliament requiring news media to be registered with the informa- tion ministry. Belarusian journalists censor themself a great deal for fear of sanctions. The authorities have BDG responded by distributing copies to direct on several occasions issued clear messages by to privately-owned retail outlets and taking punishing or firing editors for tarnishing the INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS over distribution to subscribers. But the president’s image. 4 One of the editors at humanitarian organisations and independent Belarus’s sole remai- political groups and movements as undesirable ning independent news and refuses to register them. Since the end of agency, BelaPan, said: last year, civil society representatives who lack “Journalists have to official accreditation can be fined or even impri- walk through a mine- soned for up to two years. Many civil society field. They have to ask organisations have been forced to go under- themselves all the time ground and the media are banned from naming whether writing this or them or their members under threat of criminal that will be seen as a action. Some journalists use paraphrases to criticism of one allude to their work. government official or another.” According to Another subject that irks the authorities is recent information minis- Belarus’s past before it became a Soviet repu- try directives, a news blic in the early 1920s. The presenter of media can now be clo- “Puteshestvie diletantov,” a programme about An empty display case reserved for presidential candidate. sed after two warnings. Belarusian history on the leading terrestrial TV The list of subjects that are off-limits constantly channel BT, was fired in February 2005 because grows. No state-owned news media dares to the government did not like his reference to the interview opposition leaders in the run-up to the pre-Soviet era, in particular, Belarus’s links with elections and their names are not even mentio- the former kingdom of . The station ned. Journalists in Minsk say that the population also severed its contract with the privately- in some parts of the country do not even know owned production company that was making that anyone is running against Lukashenko in the series. Another programme made by the the 19 March election. same company about the history of the Belarusian diaspora was also dropped at the The state media take particular care not to behest of the government, which views the 3.5 upset Lukashenko and carry absolutely no criti- million Belarusians living abroad as its potential cism except that voiced by Lukashenko himself. opponents. A Sovietskaya Belorussia journalist who asked not to be identified said he and his colleagues A BelGazeta journalist who requested anony- are allowed to criticise the housing minister mity mentioned the disappearances of opposi- because Lukashenko himself singled the minis- tion members and journalists as one of the ter out over a problem of faulty heating in apart- taboo subjects. No one in the press dares to talk ment buildings. No subject is officially banned about them as the Belarusian authorities are inside newspapers but journalists have no trou- implicated. As well as journalist Dimitri ble in identifying the most sensitive one them- Zavadski, who has been missing since 2000, selves: the political opposition. No state-owned former parliamentary deputy speaker Viktor news media have mentioned the 2 March crack- Gonchar, businessman Anatoly Krasovski and down in which several journalists were arrested former interior minister Yuri Zakharenko have and beaten by police for following opposition been missing since 1999. And the October 2005 candidate Alexander Kazulin when he tried to murder of investigative journalist Veronika register as a participant in a congress for civil Cherkasova of the now banned daily

: servants. Solidarnost has not been solved. The case was closed without any significant clues ever being Since 2000, article 367 punishes “defaming the identified. president” and article 368 punishes “insulting the president.” Lukashenko reinforced his legis- lative arsenal against the media and opposition Media under the president’s last December by getting parliament to vote an amendment adding the offence of “discrediting thumb the president” (article 369). It is punishable by up to six months in preventive detention and a The Belarusian authorities divide the media into prison term of two years. two categories: the “honest media,” those that INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS At the same time, the government views work for the government, and the “dishonest 5 media,” those that are independent. It is in this station STV, which only reaches the capital. climate of extreme tension that journalists have to work today. Two Russian terrestrial TV stations are received in Belarus: ORT (now called officially called There is great deal of solidarity among indepen- ONT) and RTR. On both these stations, the dent journalists, who swap information and Belarusian authorities replace the news pro- contacts. As they are denied access to public grammes with their own news at will, and institutions by officials who have orders not to without the agreement of their Russian partners. answer their questions, governmental informa- The programmes coming from Russia are vetted tion is the hardest kind for them to obtain. A and anything that might irritate Lukashenko is journalist with Radio Svaboda in Minsk who suppressed. RTR was banned by the authorities requested anonymity said he has no choice but during the October 2004 referendum campaign. to be extremely pressing in order to get informa- Another Russian TV station, NTV, which used to tion from police officers. be very critical of Lukashenko, is available in Belarus but only by cable or satellite dish and On the other hand, contacts between govern- very few Belarusians are subscribers. A Polish mental and independent journalists is quite rare. station that broadcasts in Belarusian, Radio Governmental journalists risk losing their jobs Racyja, was closed down by the authorities in as soon as they put a foot wrong. A BelGazeta 2002 and had to move to . journalist said one of his former university col- leagues who today works for the government The authorities recently found another indepen- and the governmental newspaper Sovietskaya dent news source to suppress – polling compa- Belorussia was reprimanded by his superiors for nies. They closed down one of the most reputa- calling his old friend at BelGazeta to wish him ble of these companies, NISIPI, at the end of happy birthday. The state media no longer work 2004 for publishing figures that completely with the independent media. The news agency contradicted the official results of the October BelaPan lost many of its clients as a result. 2004 referendum. NISIPI now operates in exile Sovietskaya Belorussia, which used to be one of in Lithuania. Exit polls are now banned because its subscribers, terminated its contract a few they could cast doubt on the official count and years ago. be used as evidence of electoral fraud. A reso- lution was adopted at a meeting of government Lukashenko has said: “Television is the principal ministers on 8 November 2005 that aims to stop link in ideological work and will not be allowed all other independent polling by requiring polling out of the state’s control.” Belarusian TV is companies to register with the government and, monopolised by the president and his official more importantly, to give the authorities copies speeches. The only political figure with unques- of all polls they carry out, listing the surnames, tioned authority to speak in public, he is most names, address and phone numbers of each often seen on the leading national TV station, person polled. BT, his station. An extraordinary congress convened by Lukashenko to hail the govern- Lukashenko has described the media as “the ment’s achievements opened in Minsk on 2 main measuring device of ideology, at the base March, in the middle of the election campaign. of the state.” And to show the president in his Lukashenko’s three-hour opening speech was best light, it is forbidden to photograph him from

: broadcast live in its entirety on BT. He used his the side, under pain of being blacklisted or fired. position as president to get round the electoral A photographer with the state news agency law’s restrictions on TV time for the candidates. Belta was fired for taking a picture of Lukashenko with a mirror behind him. These Although the president election is now just a few obscure rules come directly from the presiden- days away, it is still very unusual to see any of tial guard and do not appear in any official docu- Lukashenko’s three rivals on TV, although the ment. In practice, only Belta is allowed to pho- electoral commission said they should each be tograph Lukashenko and all the other media allowed two half-hour TV appearances during have to go to Belta to get a photo of him. the campaign. The government controls all the Belarusian TV stations: the leading national sta- The regime’s showcase is the newspaper INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS tion BT, the cultural station LAD and the local Sovietskaya Belorussia, whose name says 6 everything: “Soviet Belorussia.” It carries state The secret services harass journalists in various propaganda and serves as the government ways such as following them, tapping their pho- gazette, filling pages with the texts of presiden- nes and cutting off their electricity. Many journa- tial decrees and the laws passed by parliament. lists said these are all standard practices. KGB The front page often has a photo of agents even go so far as to occupy offices for Lukashenko, especially during election cam- several days or even weeks in order to prevent paigns. He is usually shown smiling, surrounded the journalists from working. The staff of the by radiant people and against a sunny back- news agency BelaPan was forced to move three ground although the temperature sometimes time in less than six months to escape power falls to -18 centigrade at night in March in Minsk cuts and constant monitoring by building secu- and the country is beneath a blanket of snow. rity guards. The other privately-owned news But journalists working for the government agencies were not able to withstand their finan- media are paid to look after the boss’s image. cial problems. The BelaPan office is now so well All the editors of the state media are appointed hidden in the rear courtyard of a building that it directly by Lukashenko and have to report to is impossible to find for those not in the know. him. Journalists are told what to write and rarely propose stories. They are not allowed to attend The deputy editor of the opposition newspaper editorial conferences, where there is no discus- Zhoda, Alexander Sdvizhkov, recently left the sion about the subjects to be covered. newspaper. A staff member said he could not stand the KGB interrogations and the judicial proceedings initiated against him after a prose- Harassment: instructions cutor brought a complaint. He had given the for use government a gold opportunity to close down the newspaper a few months before the presi- dential election by publishing the controversial The pressure is on the independent newspa- Mohammed caricatures. pers. One of the two still on sale in the capital, the weekly BelGazeta, has escaped the purge orchestrated by the authorities. Why? Many websites are subject to denial-of-service According to a senior member of its staff who attacks which journalists and civil society mem- asked not to be identified, it is because it is pro- bers blame on the authorities. One of the sites tected by foreign capital. A Russian holding most often targeted is that of the citizens move- company, Interros, owns 30 per cent of the ment Charter 97, www.charter.org, which is newspaper. Its print run has even increased often blocked by attacks for hours on end. A since 2000 and it has picked up readers from spokesman for the site said the attacks always the independent newspapers that have had to happen after a major event such as the arrest of close. BelGazeta has also being able to conti- an opposition leader or a crackdown. nue printing in Minsk because it uses the same Discussion forums are the worst hit by these company as the Russian newspaper attacks. A journalist said she suspected the Komsomolskaya Pravda. But it could have to KGB has a section that specialises in sabota- close at any moment if its foreign investors ging websites. Belarusian law does not treat the decide to withdraw their capital, which they Internet as a medium of communication and so might easily do inasmuch as they are getting lit- websites are not obliged to register with the

: tle return on their investment. authorities. But legislators have for several months been thinking of passing a law regula- Independent journalists regularly receive war- ting the Internet. nings and threats from the authorities. A mem- Another methods used to silence journalists is ber of the BelGazeta staff has received calls to send them to labour camps in remote parts of from the president’s offices voicing displeasure the country. Dubbed “khimiya” (the Russian about its coverage of the current election cam- word for chemistry) by journalists, these camps paign. “Watch out, we are going to take care of resemble those used in Cuba. The offending you,” he was told. This despite the fact that journalists are sentenced to work in market-gar- BelGazeta, which specializes in political and dens or saw mills. According to the information social analysis, has made an effort not to side obtained by Reporters Without Borders, the last INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS with any candidate. time a journalist received such a sentence was

7 in 2002 when Viktor Ivashkevich, the editor of the presidential election are announced. The the weekly Rabochy, was sentenced to work for Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoted him two years in the eastern Baranovichi region and as saying: “I’ll mess things up for everybody at was pardoned after one year. the least attempt to destabilize the situation. As for embassies having links with the opposition, if anything like that happens, they will be expel- Meticulous vetting led within 24 hours.” Today, Belarus is almost totally isolated and the media are harassed for accreditation more than ever.

There are blacklists in the Belarusian embassies abroad for journalists wanting to visit Belarus. Recommendations Several who filed a request to cover the presi- dential election within the official January dead- line are still waiting for their accreditation, Reporters Without Borders urges the Belarusian although the election is now just a few days authorities to stop harassing independent jour- away. There are also blacklists for local journa- nalists, to give them accreditation so that they lists. Foreign reporters entering Belarus are can work legally, and to remove all the screened meticulously and those on the black- constraints on the print and broadcast media lists are subjected to body searches by customs that prevent them from operating freely. officials. They avoid being in possession of arti- cles about the opposition or copies of indepen- Reporters Without Borders asks the authorities dent newspapers. responsible for the state-owned news media to guarantee objective news coverage and fair Several foreign reporters have already been access to these media for all the election banned from Belarus. Pavel Selin, the former candidates. Minsk correspondent of the Russian TV station NTV, was expelled on 28 June 2003 and banned Reporters Without Borders calls on international from returning to Belarus for five years. Mikhail organisations to condemn the repression of the Podoliak, an Ukrainian freelance journalist who news media and civil society in Belarus and to wrote for the Belarusian weekly Vremia, suffered provide support for the few remaining indepen- the same fate. A number of Belarusian journa- dent news media and journalists’ organisations. lists have preferred to leave Belarus and go and work with more freedom in such neighbouring countries as Russia, Lithuania and . Finally, the organisation calls on the presidents of countries in the region to use their influence Lukashenko likes to be called batka (“father” in with the Belarusian government to protect free- Belarusian), but he fears a Ukrainian-style revo- dom of expression in Belarus, which is seriously lution by his children when the official results of threatened. : INSTITUTIONALIZED HARASSMENT OF THE NEWS MEDIA BELARUS

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