For no obvious reason: Journalist to appear before court


On May 20, the administrative case is to be tried in Korelichy district court, Ales Zaleuski was informed telephonically. The journalist is an employee of the Polish Public Television (TVP S.A), Belsat TV being a structural unit of it.

In case the journalist fails to appear, he will be taken to the court by policemen, the court official warned. Mr Zaleuski has not had any chance of familiarising himself with investigation materials or records. Moreover, it is the first time he has heard of any case initiated against him. Mr Zaleuski has never been summoned as well.

‘If I am accused of performing journalist activity without any accreditation, policemen should have called me to draw up a report and get explanations. Nothing has been done,’ Ales Zaleuski told the Belarusian Association of Journalists.

(upd) The hearing is to deferred to May, 28.

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It is to be recalled that in March, 2013 Belsat TV made its third attempt to get a formal accreditation and filed all the necessary documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But in vain: the Ministry’s officers refused to register its correspondent office in Minsk referring to Belsat contributors’ alleged law violations. As our journalists and contributors have to perform their professional duties without any accreditation they repeatedly draw fire from public officers.

www.belsat.eu/en

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