Posted on 08/12/2004 10:37:09 PM PDT by RussianConservative
MINSK - Authorities in Belarus, accused in the West of stifling independent media, have shut the office of Russian state television after accusing it of exaggerating the size of a rally denouncing President Alexander Lukashenko. The action barring the channel from operating in the ex-Soviet state late on Friday was the latest punitive move against reporters judged to have distorted political activity in the country since Lukashenko came to power a decade ago.
"In connection with an improper report on opposition activity, it has been decided to halt the activity in Belarus of the office of VGTRK (Russian state television)," Belarussian Foreign Ministry official Ruslan Yesin told reporters on Saturday. "At the moment, its office in Belarus cannot work legally."
He repeated official calls for an apology from the channel, saying the matter would then be considered closed. The Russian television report said several thousand demonstrators took part in Wednesday's protest to mark Lukashenko's 10th anniversary in office. Riot police cordoned off the centre of Minsk, manhandling and detaining participants.
Belarus's Interior Ministry said 193 people had attended, including 44 detained by police before the protest got under way. A Reuters reporter estimated that 4,000 people took part at various points of the rally. On Friday, Lukashenko described the gathering as "unrest" and vowed to tolerate no action that might "destabilise" the ex-Soviet state of 10 million.
Another leading Russian channel, NTV, was shut for a time last year after being accused of "slandering the government" in a report on the funeral of a writer opposed to Lukashenko. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said he hoped state television's office would soon reopen.
"A report on one or another event in Belarus by Rossiya television cannot form serious grounds for actions of this nature," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying in Moscow. The opposition says Lukashenko's rule has harshened ahead of a parliamentary election in October, a crucial test of his popularity in view of low living standards.
Lukashenko has prolonged his stay in power by virtue of a 1996 referendum, denounced as illegal by liberals and the West. His re-election in 2001 was also criticised as fraudulent. The president has said he might hold a nationwide referendum to enable him to continue in office beyond the legal limit of two terms and run in a presidential election in 2006.
Lukashenko rejects rapid introduction of market economics and his longstanding plan of reuniting Belarus with Russia is now given a lukewarm reception in Moscow.
As for Ukraine, well, they seem to be stuck in the old days.
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