Opposition newspaper 'Tovarishch' warned as well

The Information Ministry of Belarus has issued an official warning to founders of Tovarishch, the printed organ of the Belarusian Leftist Party Fair World.

As BelaPAN was informed by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Siarhei Vazniak, the warning was issued on 1 June in connection with violating the periodicity of the publication. The Information Ministry stated in particular that the third issue of Tovarishch in 2010 was issued on as late as 7 May, while the newspaper had been registered as a monthly one.

'At the moment we are able to issue the newspaper only one time a year or once in two months', Mr. Vazniak explained. He admits the claims of the ministry against the newspaper. 'But I think that Information Minister Aleh Praliaskouski understands perfectly well in which situation the newspaper exists, as we have been simply deprived of a possibility to earn money', the editor added. 'We have been thrown out of the system of Belposhta, which is a monopoly in newspapers' distribution, we have been eliminated from the system of subscription. All attempts of the newspaper to be printed in Belarus failed: printing firms simply refused to cooperate with us. We cannot even print advertising materials, as advertisers do not want to deal with our newspaper'.