Anna Maria Dyner: Blocking of websites in Belarus – start of extensive campaign

The Belarusian dictator steps up crackdown because of the crisis.

In this way the expert of the Polish Institute of International Affairs Anna Maria Dyner comments the latest moves of the Belarusian authorities in relations with independent mass media, including passing the amendments to the Law on Mass Media and blocking of a number of websites, including charter97.org, Polskie radio reports.

As said by her, the reaction of the official Minsk to the ruble collapse was not only imposing the tax on currency purchase, but also blocking of independent websites. Some of them are not available for 4 days.

The Polish expert stressed that in this way Lukashenka wants to prevent the growing panic and massive buying up of foreign currency by citizens of the country. Anna Dyner stressed that the authorities blocked the websites which offer unbiased information about the developments in the Belarusian economy, and a few days before Alyaksandr Alesin, a journalist contributing to “Belorusy i rynok” newspaper, was arrested.

The present tightening the screws on independent mass media is just a beginning of a more extensive campaign of the Belarusian authorities, the expert believes. Not long ago the president could be sure of his victory in the “election” in 2015. And now, after the events in Ukrainian Maidan, the dictator starts to react to potential threats sharply, and he is carrying out preventive repressions against independent mass media.

We remind that at the moment charter97.org website’s blocking continues for the 5th day. The instructions how to bypass the blocking could be found here.