OSCE Representative denounces search of Belsat TV channel editorial office in Belarus

Dur­ing their search, law enforce­ment author­i­ties seized data and note­books after a pub­lic offi­cial filed a com­plaint for libel against one of the jour­nal­ists of the TV chan­nel in Jan­u­ary 2019. The com­plaint relates to inac­cu­rate infor­ma­tion that Bel­sat ini­tial­ly pub­lished on 11 July 2018, and which it cor­rect­ed on 25 July 2018.

“I am alarmed by the search at the Bel­sat edi­to­r­i­al office in Min­sk and the seizure of data and note­books from the jour­nal­ists,” Désir said. “This obstructs the work of the inde­pen­dent media, and rais­es con­cerns about the pro­tec­tion of the jour­nal­ists’ con­fi­den­tial sources. The media pub­lished a cor­rec­tion after a mis­take in pub­li­ca­tion. It is cru­cial that pub­lic offi­cials refrain from bring­ing crim­i­nal charges against jour­nal­ists, and I call on the author­i­ties to decrim­i­nal­ize defama­tion in line with inter­na­tion­al stan­dards.”

In Decem­ber 2018, the OSCE Min­is­te­r­i­al Coun­cil Deci­sion on Safe­ty of Jour­nal­ists called on the par­tic­i­pat­ing States to “ensure that defama­tion laws do not car­ry exces­sive sanc­tions or penal­ties that could under­mine the safe­ty of jour­nal­ists and/or effec­tive­ly cen­sor jour­nal­ists and inter­fere with their mis­sion of inform­ing the pub­lic and, where nec­es­sary, to revise and repeal such laws.”

Minsk Police Raid and Search BELSAT Office on Slander Charges. The office has been crushed