Lohvinau Sues Information Ministry

The information about the lawsuit was provided by an employee of the publishing house Pavel Kastsiukevich.

We remind that Ihar Lohvinau was informed about the license withdrawal a month ago, on September 23. The statement letter said that the decision had been taken by a college of the Ministry on September 20, and the order signed on the same day.

The license was withdrawn for “rough violations of the law on publishing”. The Ministry thinks that such a violation was made when “Lohvinau” published the Belarus Press Photo 2011 recognized extremist by court of Ashmiany on April 18, 2013. The court decision about the photo album evoked a wide public outcry, but the appeal court upheld the initial decision.

The publisher considers that the withdrawal of the license is unlawful. On October 7, Ihar Lohvinau sent a letter to the Ministry explaining his view and asking to nullify the order. However, the Ministry has not replied yet. Meantime, the publisher has drawn great support from local and international organizations, including BAJ, IFJ and other journalists’ organizations, PEN-Center, Ukrainian writers and the International Association of Publishers.