OSCE Seminar on Safety of Journalists in Minsk
On September 15, the Bureau of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media holds a seminar jointly with the Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry on interaction between law enforcement agencies and mass media.
Dunja Mijatović starts her two days' visit to Minsk with the seminar organized jointly with the Belarus MFA. The aim of the visit is to discuss issues of freedom of media with senior officials, including the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Information Minister, and representatives of civil society and mass media.
The seminar is attended by representatives of the Minsk city police and the Operative Analytical Center, journalists from state-run and independent press (BelaPAN news agency, Solidarity, Narodnaya Volya, Novy Chas, Nasha Niva, BelTA news agency, Zviazda, Sovetskaya Belorussia, 2nd National TV Channel, etc), lawyers of BAJ.
The Representative said that the idea to hold the seminar appeared in talks between the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and the Foreign Affairs Minister. Mrs Mijatović hopes that the training will increase journalists' awareness about their right to information. She remarked that journalists are responsible for defining them as the press and not interfering with the events that they cover. The law enforcement agencies must accept the role of the press and ensure the safe surrounding for their work. Both sides should work together so as to guarantee free media in Belarus. “This requires a political will, a message from the Government of Belarus”, she said.
Mrs Mijatović considers that there are certain positive changes being observed. “The number of detentions of journalists in Belarus have significantly decreased, but even when there is one detention, I will raise the issue for the Belarusian government to see that I know about it.” The Representative also considers that the legislation on the media demands improvement, and the Bureau will keep working with the Government on Belarus in this direction and will demand implementation of international obligations.
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