Sudalenka: You Do Not Need To Ask Permission For Freedom Of Speech From State

The authorities score out the right of the Belarusians to express their opinion.

Judge Tamara Zastaunitskaya admitted the Homel freelancer Kanstantsin Zhukouski guilty of "illegal production of media" (article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), Homel Viasna writes.

The judge sentenced Kanstantsin Zhukouski to the maximum possible fine of 1225 rubles only for the fact that "on March 19 he was in the village Rudnia-Marymonava in Homel region, where he produced and then distributed on the Polish satellite channel Belsat a story entitled "Village Armageddon: cows die, workers are given bad milk."

"The events around us, independent journalists and freelancers, cause at least an outrage. We make reports on social issues from small towns, villages and district centers, write articles and shoot stories about the real state of affairs, about the true life of people. We are persecuted and punished for this," – the freelancer Kanstantsin Zhukouski says with outrage.

The lawyer of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), Leanid Sudalenka, says that the most important thing is to understand that attempts of the state to divide information into "legal" and "illegal" are unlawful. That the very term "mass media" is outdated. And that freedom of speech is something that you do not need to ask permission for from the state.

"Nobody says that, for example, the footage or story of a freelance journalist is fake. Officials constantly say: "forbidden, forbidden, forbidden...". The national legislation is interpreted in such a way that the right to express one's opinion, to collect and disseminate information is scored out in general," – the lawyer stressed.

Zhukouski asks the Supreme Court to cancel the district court's decision of March 19 and to terminate the case.