Posted
March 10th, 2009
by
On 25 February 2009, a District Court in Brest, on the Polish-Belarus border, ordered the destruction of the most recent edition of the magazine Arche on grounds of ‘extremism’. This has led Belarus PEN to issue a protest against the government’s attempts to “undermine freedom of expression and impede the professional activities of writers and journalists”.
Arche is a Belarus language cultural that has suffered numerous lawsuits and confiscations in recent years. This most recent case dates from November 2008 when historian and journalist Ales Pashkievich was apprehended by police. He was carrying ten copies of the September 2008 issue, each over 1,000 pages long, which were seized on accusation that it contained articles “harmful to the national interests of the Republic of Belarus”. On 25 February, in a court hearing where all but a KGB office and Arche‘s lawyer were barred entry, the Brest District Court concluded that Arche contained material “that discredits the activities of the authorities of the Republic of Belarus, fuels political and social tension and incites the organisation of a collective revolt”.
It was later reported that the charges related to four articles. One referred to the outcome of the September 2008 parliamentary elections and questioned the sources of apparent apathy among the electorate. The second claimed corruption in government. The third accused President Lukashenko of capitalising on a bomb attack to justify a crackdown on dissent. The final, a review of a film by Polish director, Andrej Wajda, made reference to KGB and Nazi officers as allies during World War Two.
The Belarus PEN Centre has issued the following statement:
On 25 February Maskouski District Court of Brest, Belarus, ruled that ARCHE’7-8-2008 should be considered an extremist publication.
On 24 October 2008 Renata Niadbajeva, an officer of the Brest Customs decided that the information in the 7-8th issue of ARCHE journal ‘may be harmful to the national interests of the Republic of Belarus.’ 10 copies of the publication found in historian Aleś Paškievič’s luggage were confiscated for expert analysis. In February 2009 ARCHE’s editorial board received the findings of the expert analysis, carried out by the Brest Regional KGB Department (see Appendix).
The court session was closed, with only a KGB representative and Arche’s lawyer present in it. The judge did not ask a single question. So far there is no information on the grounds for such a decision. The lawyer said the ruling was not within the law.
ARCHE’s editor-in-chief Valer Bułhakaŭ said the charges were absurd. According to Mr Bułhakaŭ, this is a case of ‘one hand washing the other’ in the governmental institutions, with the KGB willing to take on the functions of an ideological censor.
The Council of the Belarusian Centre of International P.E.N. is convinced that such reaction to publications criticizing the current government undermines freedom of expression and impedes professional activities of writers and journalists.
Please send appeals:
- Protesting the seizure and destruction of the September edition of Arche;
- Pointing out that this is in breach of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Belarus is signatory;
- Highlighting the fact that even the destruction of a limited number of publications, such as in the case of Arche‘s September issue, serves as a deterrent to others who wish to write independent commentary on the important issues of governance and democracy in Belarus;
- Urging that there be no further seizures and that restrictions on independent publications such as Arche be lifted.
Appeals to:
President of the Republic of Belarus
Alyaksandr G. LUKASHENKA
Karl Marx Str. 38
220016 g. Minsk
Belarus
Fax: 375 (172) 26 06 10 or 375 (172) 22 38 72
E-mail: pres@president.gov.by
It may be more effective, however, to write to the Belarusian Embassy in the UK asking that they forward your appeal letters to the appropriate authorities in Belarus:
His Excellency Aleksandr Mikhnevich
6 Kensington Court
London
W8 5DL
Fax: 020-7361-0005
E-mail: uk@belembassy.org
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/belaruspenprotestsseizureofliterarymagazine/
