The OSCE Representative on Media Freedom Dunja Mijatovic, expressed concern about the pressure of the Belarusian authorities on the Belarusian and foreign journalists. Dunja Mijatovic urged the government "to show wisdom and understanding and to change unacceptable attitude towards the media" in a written statement to the minister of foreign affairs of Belarus Sergei Martynov.
«The government continues to intimidate and harass the independent media. This dangerous trend, emerged in the aftermath of the presidential elections on December 19, 2010, has reached its critical point. These actions flagrantly violate the commitment of Belarus within the OSCE,» said the representative of the OSCE.
In a letter addressed to Foreign Minister, Dunja Mijatovic has given examples of how journalists and media are harassed in Belarus. «Criminal prosecution of journalists Irina Khalip and Natalia Radzina» are of particular concern to the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said the OSCE.
Dunja Mijatovic, in her letter to Sergei Martynov, has recalled the failures of the Supreme Economic Court to meet claims of Avtoradio and the newspaper «Narodnaya Volia,» trying to appeal preventions, made by the Ministry of Information, as well as the arrests of Belarusian and Russian journalists in the run-up to Dzen Voli.
As Telegraf previously reported, the OSCE Representative on Freedom Dunja Mijatovic repeatedly showed concern about the situation of media freedom in Belarus. Dunja Mijatovic declared her readiness to come to Minsk right after the presidential elections in the country and to help the Belarusian authorities implement the commitments on media freedom, undertaken within the OSCE. She wrote a corresponding letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belarus Sergei Martynov. Nevertheless, the Belarusian side declined the OSCE expert assistance.
