To: Mr. David Kaye Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
[email protected] Mr. Miklós HARASZTI Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus
[email protected] Submitted by: Legal Transformation Center1 17 December 2014 Minsk, Belarus Allegation letter (information regarding Mr Ales Zaleuski, a Belarusian journalist received an official prosecutor's warning for work with a foreign mass medium without accreditation) According to BAJ2 the warning (under Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Violations) concerns a video report on Belsat about the expulsion of the human rights defender Mrs Elena Tonkacheva from Belarus3. As stated by the prosecutor, it was Ales Zaleuski who interviewed Elena Tonkacheva and the Russian Human Rights Council representative Mr Sergei Krivenko on November 5, and later the report was shown in program Objective on Belsat. The prosecutor remind that it is not allowed to work for a foreign mass medium without accreditation4. Ales Zaleuski, on-staff correspondent of Polska TVP, which includes Belsat, has been fined under Art. 22.9 twice this year for total sum of near $950. The first fine of 4,5 million BYR (~400$) was imposed on Ales by Karelichy district court in May 2014, and upheld by higher instance court. The second fine of 6 million BYR (~560$) was issued by Slonim district court in December 2014. The TV channel Belsat has many times attempted to get official accreditation in Belarus, but the Foreign Affairs Ministry declines every year. Legal reference on Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Violations Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Violations: "Violating legislation on mass media" Part 2: "Violating the stipulated order of sending a mandatory free copy of periodic editions, of distributing erotic outlets, of publishing a refutation by a mass medium, as well as illegal production and distribution of mass media products" envisages a fine from 20 to 50 basic amounts.