Research Guru / Moderator
Posted:
Mar 28, 2008, 1:30 PM
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Belarus journalists' homes raided over cartoons
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Independent journalists' homes and offices all over Belarus were raided in 2005 out of fear that they might be cooperating with authors of defamatory animated cartoons, Minsk deputy prosecutor Alyaksey Stuk said Thursday.
Stuk told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Belarus Service that he ordered the searches because investigators thought the journalists might be contributing to the spread of online cartoons defaming President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The searches, said Stuk, were part of proceedings in a criminal case that opened in August 2005 against Andrey Abozau, Pavel Marozau and Aleh Minich, who posted cartoons spoofing Lukashenka on the Web site of their organization, Third Path. The three fled Belarus early last year to avoid arrest.
Computers, office equipment and various data storage devices were seized by officers who conducted the searches.
Human rights activist Pavel Levinau was arrested in Vitebsk during a raid on the apartment of a correspondent of Polish-based Radio Racja.
That day, the Belarus foreign ministry defended the raids on the offices of independent broadcasters funded by the European Union and Poland, as well as the apartments of journalists working with them.
In a statement, ministry spokeswoman Maryya Vanshyna said that the broadcasters were not accredited with the ministry, the Belapan news service reported.
"I would like to recall right away that activities carried out by foreign journalists on the territory of the Republic of Belarus are governed by the law on the media. It stipulates that reporters of foreign media outlets require accreditation to work in Belarus, like in many other countries," Vanshyna said at the time. "As for the foreign media structures mentioned at present by the media, I can officially state that their representatives do not hold accreditation to work in Belarus."
The targeted reporters are "just some individuals among Belarussian nationals who were illegally engaged in journalistic activities for foreign money on the territory of the Republic of Belarus for a long time," Vanshyna added.
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"Oh boy." -- Allan Sherman
(This post was edited by eminovitz on Mar 28, 2008, 1:31 PM)
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