Prickly President Trashes Media, Worries Neighbors

Michael Hedges June 20, 2011 Follow on Twitter

National leaders can be rather prickly when it comes to relations with media organizations and journalists. Some just don’t take criticism very well. Others seem bent on upsetting everybody.

We have come to expect a unique bluntness from Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus. Times are tough and he’s more than a little irritated with the media, particularly foreign journalists and the “trash” internet.

“The panic that has arisen in our country is, in large proportion, the work of journalists,” President Lukashenko complained at a Minsk press conference (June 17), reported by Interfax.by. “The frenzy among consumers has been created by the active participation of a number of media for craven reasons.” Outsiders, he said, are sending misinformation through that “trash called the internet,” perhaps a tip to protests in Minsk organized (June 15) through social networking portals.

The Belarusian currency has been devalued, inflation is rampant and neighbors are concerned. OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) special rapporteur Emmanuel Decaux reported to the OSCE Permanent Council (June 17) that Mr. Lukashenko must “respect… international commitments in the framework of the OSCE and the UN, and to accept a full and permanent monitoring of human rights by independent organs and bodies.” Belarus was admitted to the OSCE in 1992 and had until the end of 2010 an office in Minsk, which was closed by Belarus after criticism of the December 2010 elections that gave Mr. Lukashenko a fourth term. After authorities quelled post-election protests, with more than 700 arrested, Mr. Lukashenko announced there would be no “brainless democracy” in Belarus.

OSCE media representative Dunja Mijatovic asked the Belarusian authorities “to show wisdom and understanding and to change unacceptable attitude towards the media," in a letter to Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov (April 6). “These actions flagrantly violate the commitment of Belarus within the OSCE.” Media watcher Freedom House, in its 2010 Press Freedom Index, ranked Belarus 189th of 192 countries in its 2010 Press Freedom Index. Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) 2010 Press Freedom Index was only slightly more generous, ranking Belarus 154th of 178 countries. Both indicators show Belarus last among all European countries in media freedom.

Of course, there’s money on the line. The Belarusian government is looking for large (billions) bail-out funding from the Russian government as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Remember, too, there is a rather significant natural gas pipeline crossing Belarus from Russia to the European Union, which the Belarus Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said (May 20) he ready to sell to Russian energy giant Gazprom for more billions. But the President Lukashenko keeps creating problems.

“When we see a decrease in transparency, disrespect or other discrimination with regard to Russian media, unfortunately, we must take this into consideration when granting loans,” said Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, quoted by Interfax (June 16). Earlier this year Belarusian authorities denied a license renewal to popular radio channel Avtoradio, which is Russian owned.

Relations with another neighbor – Poland – are also strained. In April Andrzej Poczobut, Belarus correspondent for Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, was arrested and jailed for “insulting and defaming” President Lukashenko in articles written for Gazeta Wyborcza, the news portal belaruspartisan.org and social networking site livejournal.com. Poczobut is a Polish national. His closed-door trial began June 14th, then recessed (June 17) until June 23th. The Belarusian Ministry of Justice has threatened to revoke licenses of lawyers representing him.

“Putting on trial an independent journalist and foreign correspondent writing about the actual domestic situation in Belarus proves that Belarusian authorities are determined to eliminate the activity of independent media in Belarus,” said the official statement from Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (June 15). “We cannot allow Belarus’ authorities to hold Andrzej Poczobut hostage of the Polish-Belarusian political relations.” A reporter for Polish radio channel TOK FM and a cameraman for Polish public television TVP were detained briefly by Belarus militia while covering a protest gathering the day after the Poczobut trial began.

”It is unlikely that among Russian journalists there are those who hate Belarus or the Belarusian leadership,” said Russian Union of Journalists chairman Vsevolod Bogdanov in a statement released by the Belarusian Union of Journalists (June 16).  “But when journalists are arrested, thrown into prison, this situation can only be condemned. We are worried about what is happening in Belarus.”

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