Natallya Radzina: “I am waiting for interrogation”

Searches, seizure of computers, documenting marks of beating in hospital, taking part in a human rights forum in London, waiting for summons for interrogation – this is how the today’s life of a Belarusian journalist looks like.

We publish an interview with Natallya Radzina, a charter97.org journalist.

- Index on Censorship, the British leading human rights organization, nominated you and the website charter97.org for the Freedom of Expression Award. What did it mean for the website and you?

- Today, when the charter97.org website suffers from pressure by the authorities, solidarity of the international community is vital for us. At the ceremony in London, many famous British human rights defenders, journalists, public figures supporting freedom of speech in the world talked to me. The problem of censorship remains acute in many countries. The fact that Belarus, which is a European country, was put on the list of Index on Censorship among such countries as Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Iran, Somali, and China gives a clear demonstration of the state of freedom of expression in our country.

I find especially important the fact that the problem of human rights and freedom of expression in Belarus is being discussed in the world. Speaking with the British, I noted how it was difficult for me to tell them about 16 years of dictatorship in my country. This is a half of my life. People have been killed, abducted, arrested, harassed, and blackmailed in Belarus. My native country doesn’t have oil and gas, but 10 million people live there. London has almost the same population. I told British people, imagine that the same things are happening with you and your families, but the world is just watching terror and says: but people are not killed in streets.

We, independent journalists, continue to tell the truth about the situation in our country in spite of the pressure by the authorities. We call on the world to tell the truth about Belarus, too. It is far more painful to watch unscrupulous flirting of certain European politicians with dictator Lukashenka than being hit in the face by a riot militiaman.

- By the way, is there any news about the seized computers?

- I got a notice by mail informing me that the seized equipment had been sent for “technical examination”. Officers of the State Expert Forensic Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are to carry out of the examination. I filed a complaint to the prosecutor’s office of the Leninski district in Minsk at flagrant violations during the search: plainclothes militia officers at first tried to use force to burst into the apartment, without showing a search warrant, and hit me in the face. There were also violations in the procedure of seizure serial numbers of system unit were not recorded. I have apprehensions that they can record information on our computers that wasn’t there before.

I am waiting for an interrogation now. The situation is ridicules. I have been searched, seized computers, bur haven’t been interrogated! Some days after the search I phoned investigator of the Leninski district militia department Alyaksandr Chuy and asked to summon me for questioning. He refused and said he had been ordered to carry out a search, but the case was investigated by an investigator from Homel. Then investigator from Homel Alyaksandr Puseu called me and invited to appear in the Savetski district militia department of Minsk on March 26. I wasn’t able to come because I was in London at that time. I will probably be interrogated this week.

- Do you believe that journalists are summoned for questioning in connection with the “hunters’ case”?

– No, I don’t. It is true that we received an e-mail letter signed by relatives of the militiamen, who had been arrested in Homel in connection with the “hunters’ case”. We have never been interested in the struggle between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB, so we haven’t covered this. We check information before publishing it on the website. It is necessary to give a hyperlink to a source or link to concrete people in an article. The letter was signed by militiamen’s relatives, so e decided to publish it. Later, there appeared on the Internet that thee people bear no relation to the letter. We took a decision to remove this article from the website that was performed in due time.

Then I got calls from several unknown people who suggested me to meet and hand over some documents. I flatly refused to meet. So, all claims to me are absolutely ungrounded.

- So why do the authorities organize attacks on offices of independent media and websites?

- I think it was a provocation organized by the secret services. They needed an excuse for eliminating the last sources of free information in Belarus. To say more, the attack on the website coincided with announcement of Andrei Sannikov, the leader of the European Belarus civil campaign, about his intention to run for presidency. The office was searched the day after we had published an interview with him.

Another confirmation of the fact that the “hunters’ case” was just an excuse is that the charter97.org website lost its office. The owner of the apartment, where we worked, is being pressed and she has to terminate the rent agreement with us.

It is absolutely evident that militia has to perform a political order to eliminate the freedom of speech in Belarus. But I believe it is impossible in the center of Europe in the 21st century.