ГА «Беларуская асацыяцыя журналістаў»

Aleh Praliaskouski was in the position from April 2009. The press service of BAJ asked experts about the specific of this Minister's work.

Сhairperson of BAJ Zhanna Litvina:  

"For the recent five years, we have seen tough state regulation of media sphere, carried out by the Information Ministry. Although the Minister of Information spoke for some time about the necessity to reform media sphere, today we can see what it means in practice.

We've heard a lot about setting up media holdings as a step to reforms. But the chief editor of Zviazda Aliaksandr Karliukevich said it openly in an inteview that it was not a media holding being set up, but rather an editorial and publishing establishment with the state founder - Ministry of Information. In other words, without solving the main problem of teh Belarusian media sector - demonopolizing, privatizing mass media - there is little sense in any other reforms.

One more peculiarity of the Information Ministry for these years - absolute abstinence from any dialogue with the journalistic community. BAJ has tried to establish communication with the Commission on human rights, national relations and mass media (a commission in the lower chamber of Parliament) and with law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, all the attempts led to nothing, and all refusals and statements of "inexpediency" of such dialogue referred to the Information Ministry.

We cannot help mentioning the closure of the Autoradio after the presidential election in 2010; the seizure of license from Lohvinau publisher for publishing Belarus Press Photo 2011. We shouldn't forget the cases against newspapers Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya in 2011 initiated by the Information Ministry.

And the main task for newspapers was formulated as "to stay the main propagandist, agitator and organizer". This outdated definition from the past century is unacceptable in a democratic society. We cannot count on any positive media reforms provided that mass media are treated this way.

Head of analytical projects of the BelaPAN Aliaksandr Klaskouski:

"Aleh Praliaskouski is an ordinary man of a system. Any other man could have been in his place, but this man would carry out the same functions.

The state media policy has been really repressive for these five years. The Ministry of Information has tried to keep non-state press under control. Besides, Praliaskouski's speeches obviously reflected the divide between "our" and "their" press which sharply contradicts the current legislation.

This is an obvious legal nihilism, doubled by selective use of law against different outlets: whereas state outlets went away with minor mistakes, independent media always got under sanctions. A vivid example of this is the recent warning to the newspaper Svobodnye Novosti Plus.