Court decision in favour of Avtoradio reversed

Suits of Avtoradio against the Information Ministry and the Republican Commission on TV and Radio Broadcasting would be revised by a new composition of the court.

On March 17 the Cassation Board of the Supreme Economic Court of Belarus overturned the judgement of the Supreme Economic Court in the suits of Avtoradio against the Information Ministry and the Republican Commission on TV and Radio Broadcasting on stopping broadcasting of the radio station and sent it for reconsideration.

Reconsideration of the suits by Avtoradio is to be carried out by the new composition of the Supreme Economic Court. The date of the repeat session of the court has not been determined yet.

Yury Bazan, executive director of Avtoradio, has said to BelaPAN that the radio station “is set to fight to the end.” At the same time, he expressed a fear that the trial could extend over indefinite time. The first legal trial lasted two months, and employees of the radio station stayed out of job all this time.

As Bazan stressed, the trial over Avtoradio has demonstrated that the Belarusian laws have different readings of terms like “information”, “mass media”, “informational products” and so on. To his mind, during the reconsideration of the case these issues are to be studied deeper. And overall, he believes that any sensible person understands that there is nothing extremist in the phrase of Andrei Sannikov, a presidential candidate, that “the future of the country is determined on the square, not in kitchens”.

We remind that on March 9 the Supreme Economic Court of Belarus declared the warning issued by the Ministry of Information to Avtoradio radio station invalid, as well as the ruling by the Republican Commission on TV and Radio Broadcasting to ban broadcasting of the radio station.

In the comment of Aleh Pralyaskouski, Information Minister, to BelaPAN, he called the decision of the SEC judge Valery Shobik unfounded and unjust, and stated his intention to take an appeal from this decision. “I am enormously surprised by the result of this court proceedings,” the Informatiom Minister underlined.