Criminal case opened for a comment on charter97.org website

In the comments to articles at charter97.org website the Prosecutor-General’s Office discovered "insults and defamation".

It has been stated today at a press-conference by a jouranlist of charter97.org website Natallya Radzina.

"Today a human rights activist Aleh Vouchak told me about initiation of a second criminal case for publications at charter97.org website. The criminal case had been initiated by the Prosecutor-General’s Office in connection with... comments to the articles posted at the website. The matter concerns the article reproduced from the newspaper of Lukashenka's administration, "Sovetskaya Belorussia", which author was an Afghan war veteran Alyaksandr Ryzhankou, and which was written in keeping with the best traditions of Soviet propaganda: with condemnation to Afghan war veterans who oppose te regime and who refused to recieve medals from Lukashenka's hands. This article caused indignation of many readers of the webiste," Natallya Radzina told.

The Co-chairmen of the Republican public association of Afghan war veterans “Fatherland Defenders” Aleh Vouchak and Alyaksandr Kamarouski have been summoned for interrigation to the Prosecutor-General’s Office already.

Natallya Radzina remoinded that according to the laws in Europe, and recenly in Russia as well, online media do not bear responsibility for comments of their readers.

"However we can expect almost anything in our country. There's no precedent for this. Today Internet is the only source of truthful information about the situation in our country. Bewsides, all over the world Internet not only informs people, but mobilizes them in the run-up to election campaigns. The regime has been obviously frightened by that. There was no coarse language in the comments. There was a general indigtaion by "mobbing" of principled people in state-run mass media," Natallya Radzina stated.

We remind that earlier as a part of another criminal case initiated for defamation of the former head of the KGB directorate of Homel region, Ivan Korzh, searches at the places of a number of indepenent journalists were held, and all their computers were seized. A real devastation was caused in the news office of charter97.org website.