Lukashenka signed another “sham” decree on media activities

• 4.02.2009, 15:59

Alyaksandr Lukashenka obliged the official press services to provide mass media with information. Experts think it won’t make life of independent journalists easier.

The decree regulates work of spokespersons and press services of ministries and departments and obliges them provide mass media with information.

It was said by Natallya Pyatkevich, first deputy head of Lukashenka’s Administration, during the round table Laws on Media as Factor of Development of the National Information Environment, held today in the National Library of Belarus.

According to N. Pyatkevich, the new decree obliges spokespersons and press services of ministries and departments to provide mass media with information.

However, Andrei Bastunets, deputy head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), thinks this decree will only complicate conditions of receiving information by journalists.

“Earlier, officials were banned to give any information without a special permit, they can’t make a step without a permit. It will obviously lead to greater information filtering and quality of information of press services of ministries will get lower. It will be much harder for journalists to receive real information,” Andrei Bastunets told in an interview to the Charter’97 press center.

The BAJ deputy head also noted that this decree may have a purpose of spreading an official point of view among journalists.

“From one hand, this decree looks like a civilized one, allegedly mass media are able to get information from ministries and governmental agencies as in any civilized country. But press services of ministries and governmental agencies employ representatives of these institutions, and they will spread an official position,” Andrei Bastunets emphasised.

“In theory, they should give information to all media, not only to official ones. But nobody knows how it will work in practice,” he added.