Lawsuit against Life:) for blocking pro-opposition websites

Human rights activist Aleh Matskevich plans to go to court to find out why BeST mobile operator blocks access to pro-opposition websites.

It became known in late May that access to charter97.org, belaruspartisan.org and prokopovi.ch is blocked for 3G life subscribers. Aleh Matskevich decided to file a personal request to BeST company to receive first-hand information about the reasons for blocking, Balarda.org says.

Chief of the customer service Chaikouskaya tried to assure Aleh Matskevich that access to the websites is blocked by someone else, not by the company, because “the mobile operator is obliged to render communication services in accordance with a tariff plan chosen by a subscriber”.

Not satisfied with the answer, the activist decided to file a lawsuit against BeST to find out who is responsible for blocking.

We remember that in late March, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Belarus released an order to block the websites charter97.org and belaruspartisan.org for calling to go to streets on Freedom Day. In accordance with the notorious decree No 60, access can be blocked only for governmental bodies, educational and cultural institutions. BeST company violates the Belarusian legislation by blocking our site for all subscribers of the operator without their consent.

Visitors of charter97.org inform us about numerous facts of illegal blocking of the website by Internet service providers, including 3G Life. The owner of the Belarusian mobile operator, Turkish Turkcell, and Swedish-Finnish TeliaSonera, Turkcell’s minor shareholder, have been informed about blocking. We also intend to reach Scandinavian human right defenders and journalists to apply pressure on the telecom firm to solve the problem.