Narodnaya Volya’s trial to resume on Monday

by the Ministry of Information.

The hearing began in the Higher Economic Court on March 23. “Narodnaya Volya” is asking to nullify the warning pronounced by the Ministry of Information on January 14, 2011. Officials found a law violation in the article “Who will hear the motto “Leave!”?” that described the beginning of the Young Front’s action. The edition was warned “for distributing information on behalf of an organization not registered in the state”, informs BelaPAN.

Iosif Syaredzich, editor-in-chief of “Narodnaya Volya”, claimed at the previous hearing that “the warning pronounced by the Ministry of Information was groundless” and was “an example of censorship concerning the independent press and an unprofessional way of fulfilling the Ministry’s duties”.

The author of the article, journalist Lyubou Lunyova, claimed that she had written about the civil campaign “Leave!” conducted by a number of youth initiatives rather than about the Young Front”.
Syaredzich added that Dzmitry Dashkevich was quoted as a private person and not as a representative of the Young Front.

Harry Pahanyaila, the plaintiff’s representative, recalled a number of examples when state editions mentioned organizations not registered in Belarus (for example, the IISEPS and Young Front), and interviewed their representatives.

However, according to representatives of the Ministry of Information, the examples have nothing to do with the case. They think that the article contained a statement made by an unregistered organization: Dzmitry Dashkevich was introduced as the leader of the Young Front and used the pronoun “we” describing preparation for the street action.