Vadzim Zamirouski: KGB going to burn Belarus Press Photo albums

• 5.04.2013, 14:46

The case of finding “extremism” in a photo album is unprecedented having no parallels in other countries.

Vadzim Zamirouski, a photographer and organiser of Belarus Press Photo contest, talked to charter97.org about the KGB's statement on extremism in the photo album.

“I think the Belarusian authorities just want to destroy the books and the investigation was launched only to burn them,” the photographer said.

He stressed the catalogue of Belarus Press Photo contest includes pictures of all winners and photos from the achieve of a prominent Belarusian photographer.

“The pictures were selected by the international jury. We had 8 categories last year. We decided not to reinvent the wheel and chose categories 'news', 'daily life', 'sports', 'traditions' and so on. I don't understand what extremist KGB officers found there. There is nothing seditious in these pictures. It is an unprecedented case having no parallels in the neighbouring states. We can only draw parallels with public book burnings in Nazi Germany,” Vadzim Zamirouski said.

It should be reminded that KGB found extremism in Belarus Press Photo albums.

Forty one copies of Belarus Press Photo album were seized at Kamenny Loh border checkpoint from Belarusian photographs Alyaksandr Vasyukovich and Yulia Darashkevich on November 12, 2012.

Belarus Press Photo is the first open and independent contest for Belarusian photojournalists. The contest is held for the fourth time this year. The “extremist” pictures from the 2011 contest are available here.

Photo: loftprojectetagi.ru