Hands off charter97.org website!

Computers seized from a journalist Natallya Radzina haven’t been returned. Additional expert examination has been ordered to find out whether administering of charter97.org website was made on those computers.

Today a senior interrogating officer of the internal affairs department of Homel Alyaksandr Puseu summoned for interrogation in the police department of Pershamajski district of Minsk 4 journalists: Natalya Radzina, Iryna Khalip, Svyatlana Kalinkina and Maryna Koktysh. In the framework of the criminal case concerning defamation of the former head of the KGB directorate of Homel region Ivan Korzh searches were held at the places of the journalists and all computers confiscated.

The journalist of charter97.org Natallya Radzina website was familiarized with the materials of the computer and technical expert examination of the 8 system blocks seized in her office. The expert examination had been carried out by officers of the Chief expert criminalistic centre of the Interior Affairs Ministry of Belarus. According to the results of the expert examination, it had not been found that posting of materials discrediting honour, dignity and business reputation of the KGB officer. Experts were looking for materials by key words “Ivan Korzh”, “Dudkin”, “relatives of the arrested policeman”, “dictatorship”, “the European Parliament”, “Jerzy Buzek”. As a result, no materials under Ivan Korzh”, “Dudkin”, “relatives of the arrested policeman” were found, but more than 3,000 files containing the word “dictatorship”. Despite of the fact that no materials which should interest the investigation in this case had not been found, the interrogating officer familiarized Natallya Radzina with the decree about additional computer and technical expert examination. This time experts are to find out whether administering of charter97.org website had been carried out from the seized computers. The investigator however could not answer to the question of the journalist why that should be found out as it is outside the scope of this criminal case. After the additional expert examination electronic mail, all contacts, communication via ICQ and Skype will be also checked.

Besides, Natallya Radzina was summoned for interrogation for the second time. And the investigators were more interested in work and functioning of charter97.org website.

It should be noted that on the day before the interrogation a district policeman called Natallya Radzina. He told that on the request of the prosecutor’s office of Leninski district of Minsk he was to draft her character evidence. The district policeman wanted to clarify her place of work.

“Now everything is clear and transparent in this case – it is used exclusively to exert pressure on journalists of charter97.org website. Even now our work is made impossible by them by endless interrogations, searches. We have been left without our office because of policemen’s pressure on the landlady. A simple prohibition to practice of the profession of a journalist in Belarus is used. I completely agree with experts of the Interior Affairs Ministry: there is no information about Ivan Korzh or Vyachaslau Dudkin in our computers, but there is a dictatorship in the country. And we will write about that, no matter what the authorities would try to do,” Natallya Radzina stressed.

Journalists of “Narodnaya Volya” Svyatlana Kalinkina and Maryna Koktysh, as well as a correspondent of the Russian “Novaya gazeta” Iryna Khalip have also been familiarized with the results of the computer and technical expert examination of their confiscated computers today. Information was searched by the same keywords there as well. Theior computers haven’t been returned as well. But an additional examination is ordered to be held to recover deleted and ciphered filed. By the way, more than 200 files with the word “dictatorship” have been found in Iryna Khalip’s computer.

“Now I know for sure that the dictatorship is not for long. The officer in charge of the criominal case, Puseu, is not satisfied by the results of the expert examination and ordered to carry out an additional one, as it has turned out that an expert was not able to recover all the files deleted by me. However, in his report the expert was also dissatisfied that the charging device was not seized during the search, as the notebook battery was dead and he could not switch in on. It made the expert examination more difficult. Well done, guys! Come to us if you need, I am ready to give the adaptor voluntarily, not to hinder the new expert examination in any way. And the new task for experts was really amusing for us: to crack passwords and find out the list of contacts. Considering that a few months ago, when I was threatened, in almost every email or phone call there were open hints to the contents of my emails and phone calls, why should policemen trouble? They could easily call their colleagues from the allied agency, who sit in the building next to the Interior Ministry, and ask passwords and the list of contacts. They would save time wasted senselessly. And they could drink beer, or to detect some crime for a change. And in general, sirs officers have made my day. With such quality of work they are sure to overlook the revolution,” Iryna Khalip said.