Ministry of Information: no warnings issued to Charter97 and Belpartisan

Some ISPs started blocking Charter97.org, Spring96.org and Belaruspartisan.org. This was reported by users.

"Access to the resource is locked by Regulation of 6/8 of the Operational and Analytical Center of the Republic of Belarus  of 19 February 2015," -- this message appears on the screen while you are trying to go to the sites mentioned.

This regulation provides for the site blocking after two warnings from the Ministry of Information within a year. According to the resolution, the providers are to restrict access to the site, which received two or more warnings from the Ministry of Information and was blacklisted within 24 hours. The access is limited for all users, except for the special bodies mentioned in the resolution.

However, at the Legal Department of the Information Ministry Euroradio was told that the above mentioned websites had not been issued any warnings. "We did not know anything about it," they said.

The so-called "black lists" of sites blocked in Belarus are drafted by the organization called BelDIE. It has issued no comment on the locks.

Why can the sites be blocked in Belarus in accordance with the Resolution?

1. If their owners are issued two or more written warnings by the Ministry of Information within a year;

2. If they contain messages and (or) materials promoting drug trafficking, other information prohibited or restricted for distribution in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Belarus, as well as after a court decision, which had entered into force;

3. If the owners failed to comply with the legal requirements of the state authority to eliminate violations of the law of the Republic of Belarus regarding the media.