The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovic, has expressed alarm over lawsuits filed by the Belarusian Information Ministry aimed at shutting down two of the country's largest independent newspapers.
The lawsuits filed by the ministry against the "Nasha niva" and "Narodnaya volya" newspapers followed several warnings about their reporting on the March 11 Minsk subway blast and the December 19 presidential election.
The OSCE's Mijatovic, in a statement today, said that "this move by the Belarusian government to silence a few remaining critical voices will further diminish media pluralism in the country."
The lawsuits filed by the ministry against the "Nasha niva" and "Narodnaya volya" newspapers followed several warnings about their reporting on the March 11 Minsk subway blast and the December 19 presidential election.
The OSCE's Mijatovic, in a statement today, said that "this move by the Belarusian government to silence a few remaining critical voices will further diminish media pluralism in the country."
