Andrei Bastunets: Control over media and Internet to tighten ahead of elections

Activity of independent mass media in Belarus will face significant difficulties in 2010, and the decree on control over the Internet will be signed.

This is an opinion expressed by experts of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).

“It will be good if things do not get worse in 2010,” BAJ deputy head Andrei Bastunets told BelaPAN.

“A decree on regulating the Internet and Internet resources will be signed. But it won’t look like it looks today. The phrasing will be softer, but nevertheless, it will appear,” Bastunets believes.

According to him, policy of the authorities will become especially hard with the beginning of the presidential campaign. “At this time the decree will appear, practice of applying the law on media in the sphere of controlling will toughen,” the BAJ expert supposes.

In his view, only economic situation in the country and foreign political conditions are able to change this pessimistic forecast.

Mikhail Pastukhou, the head of the BAJ Legal Protection Center, has no doubts Lukashenka’s decree on regulating the Internet will be signed. “It will be a new stage of relations between independent mass media and governmental bodies. The authorities are going to clean the Augean stables of the Internet from uncomfortable information. Hard wok in this direction is expected,” Pastukhou said.

He doesn’t exclude that it may happen in the nearest time. “I have no doubts that New Year gifts have been prepared for us,” Pastukhou said.