Propagandist Novikau remains to work on television

Yauheni Novikau remains on the staff of the Belarusian Television and Radio Company.

Closing down the programme “Human Rights: Looking at the World” has no relation to Novikau's position on Ukraine. The propagandist continues to be an employee of the Belarusian Television and Radio Company, Radio Svaboda learnt from Sviatlana Smalonskaya-Krasouskaya, the company's spokeswoman.

“The information that 'Novikau was expelled from television' that certain media hurried to spread this morning is absurd, to put it mildly, and wrong. Yauheni Novikau continues to be an employee of the Belarusian Television and Radio Company. He remains on the staff of our media group.

The programme “Human Rights: Looking at the World” is not on air of Belarus-24 channel. It is an absolutely normal practice. Any television project, expect for information programmes, is closed sooner or later and stops working. In this case, we are speaking about the programme that has worked for more than 10 years. It is a rather long period for a television project.

Yauheni Novikau was offered to work on a new project of any format and genre.

As for Belarus-24 channel, the broadcast of the international TV channel continues in Ukraine. The signal is available through satellite dishes. The company hasn't received notices from cable operators on the termination of relations,” she noted.

Asked to comment on Novikau's statement, who said the programme was closed due to his “principled position” on the events in Ukraine, Smalonskaya-Krasouskaya noted it was a “position of Yauheni Novikau as the author”.

Famous propagandist Yuheni Novikau, the author of the programme “Human Rights: Looking at the World”, said it was closed down. According to him, the decision was taken due to his position on Ukrainian events. The programme is now available on the Russian radical nationalist website Kramola.

On October 15, the Ukrainian National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting said that Belarus-24 TV channel violated clauses of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television and Ukrainian laws. The Council filed a claim to a court asking to ban the broadcasting of the TV channel in Ukraine.

The decision is explained with complaints and a monitoring conducted by the Council.

The programme Human Rights: Looking at the World” was accused of spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda and distorting information about events in Ukraine.