Statement on the Massive Blocking of Websites

Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists con­sid­er that the block­ing of socio-polit­i­cal web­sites, for which no one has tak­en respon­si­bil­i­ty yet, is a com­plete break­down of law and order. There are no any legal grounds to restrict access of Belaru­sian cit­i­zens to infor­ma­tion about events in the coun­try.

Such actions on the eve of the forth­com­ing pres­i­den­tial elec­tions in fact deprive elec­toral cam­paigns of any sense, because de fac­to a state of emer­gency was imposed on infor­ma­tion in the coun­try. This total­ly breaks all inter­na­tion­al oblig­a­tions of Belarus in the sphere of free media, and con­tra­dicts to the ear­li­er voiced inten­tions of the author­i­ties to improve rela­tions with the West.

It is obvi­ous that the attacks on inde­pen­dent media cause even high­er dis­be­lief in what Belaru­sian offi­cial sources claim. This can only wors­en the sit­u­a­tion, includ­ing the eco­nom­ic con­di­tions. Lack of alter­na­tive, pro­fes­sion­al­ly pre­pared infor­ma­tion will fos­ter most unbe­liev­able rumors about the real sit­u­a­tion in the coun­try.

BAJ demands that the Min­istry of Infor­ma­tion of Belarus, the Oper­a­tive Ana­lyt­i­cal Cen­ter under the aus­pices of the Pres­i­dent of Belarus, the Gen­er­al prosecutor’s office, and all bod­ies pos­si­bly involved in the unlaw­ful block­ings:

• Take urgent mea­sures to restore access to the men­tioned web­sites;
• Hold an inquiry into the unlaw­ful block­ing of access to the men­tioned web­sites in the ter­ri­to­ry of Belarus;
• Iden­ti­fy per­sons respon­si­ble for the vio­la­tions of law and hold them account­able accord­ing to leg­is­la­tion of Belarus.

Adopt­ed by the Board of BAJ

22 Decem­ber 2014