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OSCE media freedom representative concerned about lack of media pluralism in Belarus

Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE representative on freedom of the media, told reporters in Minsk on Wednesday that she was concerned about the lack of media pluralism in Belarus, BelaPAN said.

During her October 25-27 visit, Ms. Mijatovic had meetings with Information Minister Aleh Pralyaskowski, Foreign Minister Syarhey Martynaw, presidential aide Usevalad Yanchewski and Lidziya Yarmoshyna, head of the central election commission.

According to Ms. Mijatovic, the meetings were held in an open and constructive atmosphere. As she said, she expressed concern about the country’s Internet regulations and, in particular, the user identification requirement and unclear wordings regarding the ban on the dissemination of illegal information.

Ms. Mijatovic urged the Belarusian authorities to lift all administrative restrictions on the activities of media outlets and stop the practice of issuing warnings to and close down media outlets.

According to Ms. Mijatovic, during the meetings, she tried to express her concern about certain problems that should be solved without delay, and she was glad that the Belarusian officials acknowledged the need to gradually revise and liberalize media regulations.