General Prosecutor's Office gives formal reply to appeal of independent journalist
Brest journalist Alina Litvinchuk
received an answer to her complaint from Prosecutor General of the
Republic of Belarus, Aliaksandr Kaniuk. She appealed an official
warning about the inadmissibility of the work of journalists without
accreditation, issued to her at the end of 2012.
The answer
was signed by Pavel Yeliseyeu, the deputy head of the department of
supervision over the implementation of civil rights and liberties. It
is very short and just tells the journalist that her complaint was
forwarded to Brest Region Prosecutor's Office.
Alina
Litvinchuk is very surprised at such approach because she appeals the
actions of this very prosecutor's office, which has issued the
warning to her.
Bear in mind that the official warning to the
journalist was issued by the deputy prosecutor of Brest region
Aliaksandr Talochka who concluded from some Internet information that
she allegedly violated the rules of professional journalist
activities for foreign media by working without accreditation.
In
her appeal to Prosecutor General Alina Litvinchuk stated that she
considered the warning as groundless, unlawful and liable to
abolishment as far as those statements didn't meet the reality.
Moreover, she reminded that the Constitution of the Republic of
Belarus and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ratified by Belarus) guarantee freedom of
expression and the civil right to seek, receive and impart
information.
On the basis of the aforesaid, Alina Litvinchuk
states that the warning which was issued to her by Brest Region
Prosecutor's Office violates her civil rights and liberties and asks
to abolish it.