According to Prosecutor General Alyaksandr Kanyuk,the option of imposing large fines and criminal liability for unreliable information is being considered.
“Sometimes false content stirs public opinion, prompting big consequences,” tut.by reports the official’s words.
Speaking of “false content,” which “stirs public opinion,” Mr Kanyuk, perhaps, had in mind the recent case of Piotr Markelau.
The activist was detained and placed in the isolation center after the information about his picket near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs appeared in the media. Mr Markelau spent 72 hours in the Akrestsina Street, but then it turned out in court that there was no real picket, and the photos were doctored using Photoshop. As Mr Markelau explained, it was a planned action. He had an intention to show that the police were not dealing with real criminals, but were looking for photos on the Internet.
Indeed, the law prescribes that media materials can be grounds for inspection or case initiation. But for some reason, it is done quite irregularly. Our website daily publishes information about violations of the current legislation, but the police use it only against our journalists. One should at least recall the story that appeared on the site a month ago. Our journalists reported about how policemen broke a pensioner’s leg. No inspection of the officials was carried out. But the journalists will be judged for illegal media production.
