OSCE representative welcomes enhanced media freedom dialogue with Belarus, urges improvements

MINSK, 5 June 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, welcomed today at the end of a three-day official visit to Belarus the readiness of the authorities to intensify dialogue and co-operation with her office on much needed improvement of the media freedom situation.

“I was honoured to receive the invitation from Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei to visit Minsk again. I was also pleased for the opportunity to voice all my concerns regarding the media freedom situation in Belarus to the authorities. All my meetings were held in a very frank and constructive manner,” Mijatović said.

During her high-level meetings the Representative appealed to the Belarusian authorities to immediately end the practice of short-term detention of journalists and social media activists covering public events. Mijatović noted the positive developments in the criminal prosecution cases of Andrzej Poczobut and Anton Syriapin and reiterated her demand that remaining criminal charges against Belarusian journalists be dropped.

“As long as even one journalist is prosecuted or intimidated for critical speech, the whole media community feels threatened and the chilling effect remains,” Mijatović said.

In her discussions with the authorities, Mijatovic also said that the media legislation framework needs to be urgently liberalized and modernized to enable development and independence of the media. She expressed her satisfaction that she had received very positive signals from the authorities about the engagement of her Office in assisting the media legislation reform, especially on the outdated restrictive media law. The Representative insisted on the urgent need to also engage civil society in this reform.

“I leave Minsk with high expectations for improvement in the media freedom situation. But it is high time that the media sphere is reformed and if all these assurances fail to materialize, I will not hesitate once again to raise my voice to defend Belarusian journalists,” she said.

During her visit the Representative met Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei, First Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Alexander Radkov, Minister of Information Oleg Proleskovsky, Chair of Supreme Court Valentin Sukalo, Aide on Foreign Policy to President Valery Brylev, Head of the Operational and Analytic Center under the Aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Shpegun, Head of Standing Committee on Human Rights, National Relations and Mass Media Andrey Naumovich, Head of Standing Committee on International Relations of the National Assembly Nikolai Samoseiko and other officials.

Mijatović also met representatives from the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Belarusian Union of Journalists, as well as well journalists and civil society representatives, including Marina Koktysh, deputy editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Volya,  Irina Khalip, correspondent for Novaya Gazeta and Valery Bulgakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine Arche. She also met the editor-in-chief of Sovetskaya Belarus Pavel Yakubovich and Gennady Davydko, chairperson of National TV and Radio Company.

The Representative also opened a training seminar on Internet media training entitled Freedom, Professionalism, Sustainability for state and independent journalists, organized in co-operation with the Foreign Ministry.