Dunja Mijatovic met Belarusian journalists who are under investigation

Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, has met with journalists Natallia Radzina, Iryna Khalip, Maryna Koktysh and Svyatlana Kalinkina.

The meeting was held on October 25 in Minsk, where OSCE representative Dunja Mijatovic arrived to become familiar with the situation with freedom of speech in Belarus. We remind that criminal proceedings are opened against a journalist of charter97.org website Natallia Radzina, a journalist of “Novaya Gazeta” (Russia) Iryna Khalip and journalists of “Narodnaya Volya” Maryna Koktysh and Svyatlana Kalinkina for publishing materials criticizing authorities. Two criminal cases were initiated against charter97.org website.

“Dunja Mijatovic understands the condition of journalists’ work in a dictatorial Belarus very well, as she is from Bosnia, and in the 1990ies as one of the founders of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, she helped to create legal, regulatory and political framework for mass media amid the difficult situation of the after-war period. We were glad to meet with Dunja Mijatovic also because she was the first who hurried to defend us when searches and confiscations took place in our offices. It happened in March, Dunja Mijatovic just became the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and her protest statement followed immediately.

We told the OSCE representative about the death of journalist Aleh Byabenin, “traps” of the decree on internet censorship, that criminal cases are still opened against us, and seized equipment has not been given back. We told that in the run-p to the presidential election the situation in Belarus gets only worse, ands today as never before we need support of the international community and our colleagues form abroad. Dunja Mijatovic expressed solidarity to us and said that she would always be on the side of the freedom of speech. A special statement would be adopted summing up the results of her visit to Minsk,” said the journalist of charter97.org Natallia Radzina after the meeting.

“It is obvious that the situation in Belarus is familiar to Europe, in particular, what concerns freedom of the media. Dunja Mijatovic understands everything perfectly well. But today’s’ Europe and European officials face a problem what to do when all their conditions and offers are rejected by Lukashenka. So the search for minimal steps which could be offered is carried out. Dunja Mijatovic did not hide that she expects radical changes from her visit. I expressed an opinion that Europe should make merciless terms to Belarusian authorities, in particular concerning recognition of the presidential election. As while there is no freedom of the media, when opposition is not allowed to be presented on TV, when criminal cases are opened against leading journalists, it means that the election would not be free,” the editor-in-chief of “Narodnaya Volya” Svyatlana Kalinkina is convinced.

“A pleasant, straightforward and very realistic lady. I liked her instantaneous reaction to the utterance, voiced by one of the participants of the “round table” “Belarusian segment of Internet network: problems and perspectives”. When the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs suddenly stated that he can not find representatives of Internet community for the dialog, Dunja Mijatovic said: “I was trying to remain very calm when you were talking that one can’t find these people. It is not truth because they are not virtual, they exist, and we communicate with them”. It seemed to me that Dunja Mijatovic was perfectly informed about the Belarusian reality. She knows what problems disturb journalists. Despite the fact that Dunja Mijatovic quotes the statements of some present Belarusian officials, I think, it was not simple to communicate with her”, - chief editor of “Narodnaya Volya” Marina Koktysh is sure.

“Now the principled and harsh position of Europe is important for Belarus as never before. I have no illusions about clumsy European bodies with red tape, but it is a common knowledge that a harsh position is always a result of work of most active personalities. Constant demands to Belarusian authorities to investigate disappearances of people are mostly a result of a huge work done personally by Christos Pourgourides.

After the meeting with Dunja Mijatovic I became assured that she belongs to the same kin of fighters, not pen pushers. And she is able to make Europe not to look for mythical “positive steps” in the actions of Belarusian authorities, but estimated the situation objectively,” said a journalist of “Novaya Gazeta” Iryna Khalip.