Investigative Committee cooperates with pro-governmental Belarusian Union of Journalists

This is stat­ed in the response of the Cen­tral Office of the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee to The Com­mit­tee to Pro­tect Jour­nal­ists (CPJ).

«This col­lab­o­ra­tion is car­ried out in full com­pli­ance with the rec­om­men­da­tions of the OSCE Rep­re­sen­ta­tive on Free­dom of the Media and is based on the nation­al tra­di­tions of pro­tec­tion of the rights of jour­nal­ists», — states the let­ter signed by inves­ti­ga­tor for par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant cas­es Ilyushche­nia.

Besides the inter­na­tion­al­ly rec­og­nized Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists, there is a pro-gov­ern­men­tal Belaru­sian Union of Jour­nal­ists in the coun­try, where min­is­ter of infor­ma­tion Ihar Lut­s­ki is a Board mem­ber.

In recent months, BUJ did not only do noth­ing to stop mass repres­sions against jour­nal­ists and media, but also laid the blame for «orga­niz­ing and incit­ing mass dis­or­ders» also on the media.

«Unfor­tu­nate­ly, much of the blame for orga­niz­ing and pro­vok­ing unrest lies with the media (local and for­eign), who delib­er­ate­ly ignore the prin­ci­ples and stan­dards of the pro­fes­sion, pro­fes­sion­al ethics and respon­si­bil­i­ty for the future of sov­er­eign Belarus.

It is deeply regret­table that a num­ber of the so-called «new media» are open­ly direct­ing the riots, act­ing at least as their agi­ta­tors, and at most as their insti­ga­tors and per­pe­tra­tors», — said BUJ in its state­ment.

It is unclear why the Inves­tiga­tive Com­mit­tee is work­ing with BUJ on the case of Belarus Press Club rep­re­sen­ta­tives arrest­ed on Decem­ber 22, while none of those in jail are BUJ mem­bers. How­ev­er, among those arrest­ed there are mem­bers of the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists, but the Inves­ti­ga­tion Com­mit­tee sees no point in coop­er­at­ing with BAJ.

On Jan­u­ary 14, BAJ and oth­er human rights orga­ni­za­tions of Belarus made a joint state­ment rec­og­niz­ing the arrest­ed Press Club rep­re­sen­ta­tives polit­i­cal pris­on­ers and demand­ing their imme­di­ate release.