The independent ‘Gazeta Slonimskaya’ (Slonim Newspaper) may face a fine of up to 500 basic units for ‘distributing false information discrediting the honor and dignity of the President of the Republic of Belarus’, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reports.
The article “Voice Of Village. The Fact That President Can Speak Well is Above All” in the section ‘Election-2015’ gave rise to an action.
The author asked residents of a village in Slonim district about the forthcoming presidential elections. Chief editor Viktar Valadashchuk was not informed what episode of the article became the reason for opening the case. In his turn, Valadashchuk told the police that he was not ready to give explanations over the case.
Perhaps, the most critical fragment of material is a paragraph in which the author concludes the street interview:
“For 20 years of his rule, Alyaksandr Lukashenka has created a vertical model of governance where all elections, referendums, appointments of top officials are happening under the control of the authorities, i.e. In the way that is beneficial to the authorities, not to the people.”
If the case goes to court and the newspaper is found guilty, a judge might impose a fine of up to 500 basic units (90 million rubles or $6,000).
