Litmus test for Belarusian ‘thaw’: Belsat TV in bid to get accreditation


Striving for being accredited by the Belarusian authorities, Belsat TV has filed a required set of documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

 “This time, we have applied for the accreditation of individual correspondents and cameramen, not for that of a news bureau, as was formerly the case. All the documents filed meet the requirements, and there is no formal reason for denial,” Alyaksei Minchonak, the channel’s official representative in Belarus, told Belsat TV.

Belsat TV is the first independent Belarusian TV channel. It was established in 2007 as a joint project of the MFA of Poland and the Polish Public Television TVP, but its editorial policy is entirely independent.

Belsat TV which has been broadcasting for eight years, has been denied accreditation for its journalists during these very eight years. Its recent request was turned down in March, 2015. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry declared that it could not issue any accreditation to Belsat TV because the journalists working for it … break the law. So the circle closes: journalists are denied accreditation because they break the law and they break the law, because they work without accreditation that they seek… And it explains the existence of absurdist Article 22.9 of the Administrative Code, which provides punishment for ‘illegal production and distribution of media products’. If you have accreditation, you are allowed be a journalist. If you do not have it – you are outlawed.

Read also: Official who put Belsat TV under ban ‘ready for constructive dialogue’ on media freedom

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