Mijatović: They implied that journalists would not be detained anymore

The visit to Belarus on June 3 is the result of long-term negotiations with the Belarusian authorities, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said. The fact that the invitation was sent means that "her position and work have been recognized", Mijatović thinks.  However, she had to wait for three years starting from December 2010.

"Belarus is one of the 57 OSCE member states and bears responsibility for the independence of mass media," the OSCE represneattive announced her position to journalists and the end of the second day full of meetings.

There were a lot of meetings. At first she started a seminar dedicated to online mass media for Belarusian journalists. Then she met the administration of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and journalists who had been jailed for doing their job. She visited the official Union of Journalists, the House of Representatives, the Ministry of Information, the President’s Administration, the Supreme Court and the editorial office of SB. She is going to meet Uladzimir Makei and visit the BT soon.

Dunja Mijatović: “It testifies to the intention and desire of the Belarusian authorities to resume cooperation with my office. All the doors were opened and all the conversations were conducted in a friendly atmosphere. They were not simple – I raised issues connected with the persecution for journalists in Belarus in the past 3 years and the Belarusian authorities knew about it.”

Mijatovic is sure: her visit is an opportunity that should not be lost. It is needed to improve the situation connected with the freedom of speech in our country. She would do everything to use the opportunity.  

Dunja Mijatović: “Short-term detentions of journalists should be stopped today. There have been about 60 detentions lately! I am hoping that the today’s discussions will help stop the practice of arresting journalists and officials have implied that they are ready for it.”

The OSCE representative did not specify whether it only concerned Andrzej Poczobut and Anton Surapin or the other journalists arrested for “swearing in a public place” or “resisting the police” too. She did not specify which officials gave her the implication that detentions would stop and charges would be lifted from journalists either.

Speaking about “obstacles to work” , representatives of state mass media asked Mijatovic why she had not commented on the rights of journalists blacklisted by the EU.

Dunja Mijatović: “The European Union is not an OSCE member state. The black list issue should be discussed by Belarus and the European Union. For my part, I will continue discussing the issues but I think that Belarus has more problems in the sphere of mass media.”

 Nevertheless, Dunja Mijatović thinks that “the main short-term goal in cooperation with the Belarusian authorities” is the reform of mass media legislation.

The positive things Mijatović has noticed during this visit include the large access to the Internet in Belarus and the possibility of legal publishing of such newspapers as Narodnaya Volya and Nasha Niva… And that’s it. You can only hope that the Belarusian authorities will take “the liberalization and democratization path”. However, she does not believe that there will be dramatic changes right now, Mijatović admitted.

Photo: Zmitser Lukashuk