Lukashenko acknowledges shortcomings regarding freedom of press

Published: 26 January 2007 y., Friday

Baltarusijos prezidentas Aleksandras Lukašenka
Belarus may still have shortcomings in the development of freedom of the media, Aleksandr Lukashenko said in an interview published by the German newspaper Die Welt on Thursday.

“Media can act like firearms,” the paper quoted the Belarusian leader as saying. “Journalists can kill both democracy and a totalitarian system and cause damage to society.”

He noted that journalists in Germany, for instance, bear personal responsibility for their reports. “In our country, on the contrary, irresponsibility reigns,” he said, adding that Belarus' information space is open and foreign channels, funded with Western money, broadcast “at our frequencies.” He noted that these and Russian channels “sweep with fire our country from the west to the east and from the east to the west.” “Our opposition does not disappear from these media,” he added, noting that there is nowhere in the world where access to the media is equal.

“I gave the opposition an opportunity to appear on our television,” Mr. Lukashenko said. “But by their bad appearances, they lost support among the population and gained 1.5 percent of the vote in the election.”

Mr. Lukashenko was speaking about 30-minute pre-recorded campaign statements of opposition candidates Aleksandr Milinkevich and Aleksandr Kozulin, which were broadcast by Channel One (Belarusian Television) in the run-up to Belarus' March 2006 presidential election.

The channel cut out a nine-minute segment from Dr. Kozulin's statement, which the candidate questioned the rapid rise of the Belarusian leader's two sons, Viktor and Dmitry, up the career ladder. In particular, he said that Viktor had been appointed as the president's national security aide and given the rank of ambassador at large despite allegations that he had shot a man in a nightclub altercation a few years before.

According to the central election commission, Mr. Milinkevich gained 6.1 percent of the vote and Dr. Kozulin 2.2 percent.
Mr. Lukashenko also said that opposition leaders do not enjoy support among the population because they stay more time in the West than in Belarus. “They receive money in the West and then return with allowances from Western foundations. Many of them are corrupt,” he alleged.

Šaltinis: www.naviny.by
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Millennium development goals: time to shift gear

Recommendations on how EU countries can meet their pledges for fighting hunger, poverty and disease. more »

France moving towards burka baning

France is moving towards a ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in public. Next month the government set to examine a bill banning the burka, amid heated debate over womens rights and religious freedom. more »

China honours earthquake victims

Flags flew at half mast around China, as the country stopped for three minutes to honour the victims of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Yushu, which left at least 2, 064 people dead and 175 missing. more »

First visit of Commissioner Piebalgs to Haiti: launch of the first EU-funded projects for reconstruction

Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development, will travel to Haiti on 23-24 April 2010, to launch the first projects for reconstruction that will be funded by the EU. more »

European air space gradually starts to reopen

The Spanish Secretary of State for the EU, Diego López Garrido, and the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, in the European Parliament on Tuesday defended the management of the air crisis caused by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano and said that they were confident that the measures adopted by the EU-27 will allow air space to progressively reopen. more »

Flights in Limbo

Stranded in Frankfurt. Volcanic ash from Iceland continues to ground flights across Europe where officials say about 5,000 took off in Europe Sunday compared with the 24,000 that normally would have flown. more »

More power, less plume

Iceland’s Meteorological Office reports tremors within an erupting volcano gained power on Sunday, while the massive plume of ash above its fiery core dropped off radar. more »

Volcanic ash cloud: President Barroso launches European Commission action to address economic consequences

European Commission President Barroso today decided to set up an ad-hoc group to assess the impact of the situation created by the volcanic ash cloud on the air travel industry and the economy in general. more »

Pope visited Malta

Pope Benedict holds Sunday mass in Malta. The Pope’s visit comes at a time when the Catholic Church has been under pressure surrounding a series of sex abuse scandals, and ahead of the Pope’s meeting with sex abuse victims. more »

Warm welcome for MEP observers by voters in first Sudan elections in 25 years

Two MEPs lead the EU's monitoring of the first Sudanese multi-party general elections in nearly 25 years. more »