Mahilyou journalist warned for work for Belsat TV channel
3- 29.09.2009, 10:09
A warning by a prosecutor for violation of Article 11 of Law on media has been issued to Vadzim Orshynski, a TV cameraman and fine art photographer.
The prosecutor’s office has sent the warning by a registered mail. Vadzim Orshynski had no meetings with a prosecutor concerning this issue.
In December 2008 Vadzim Orshynski took pictures of a concert and of giving presents from a trade union of radio electronic industry workers to Chausy orphanage and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, baj.by website informs.
Prosecutor Syarhei Minau charges V. Orshynski of talking to children without a permission of educators (he took an interview, as written in the warning), and then placed those interview at Belsat website. V. Orshynski says that he was a cameraman at the event, and didn’t make any interview.
About a month ago, on August 21, an analogous warning was received by Mahilyou journalist, a BAJ member Volha Sharapkina.
The warning was issued for her visit to Chavusy orphanage with Orshynski, for her taking an interview and than placing it at Belsat website without knowledge of legal representatives of children, the director of the orphanage.
“Such activities without accreditation are prohibited, and placing such an information is violation of the Article 11 of Law on media,” prosecutor Minau said.
“Once again the prosecutor’s office demonstrates ignorance of the Belarusian law, and takes liberties to violate it,” says the deputy chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists, lawyer A. Bastunets. “It is not the first case when a warning is issued to a citizen, even without asking for preliminary explanations from him.
Secondly, the warning has been issued for violation of Article 11 of the Law on Media, which says about state registration of mass media. But this article concerns founders of a mass media outlet, and not the people who work for them.
Thirdly, the matter concerns a website. Meanwhile, for today there is still no by-law of the government to regulate the work of online media, and articles of the Law on Media are not applied to online media.
According estimations of the BAJ lawyers, from the moment of coming into force of the new Law on Mass Media, 13 warnings have been issued to Belarusian journalists that contribute to foreign mass media for absence of accreditation.
