Information Ministry Issues a Warning to Svobodnye Novosti Plus
The warning relates to an article in issue No17 dated May 6. The newspaper wrote that the Russian Federation had not sent any hockey players from the Olympic Games in Sochi to take part in the championship in Minsk.
“The author of the publication, by using untrue materials, misleads the public because several hockey players of the Russian Federation who had taken part at the Olympics in Sochi will also take part in the Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus,” says the warning dated May 12 and signed by the Information Minister Aleh Praliaskouski.
The untrue information disseminated in the mentioned article inflicts damage to public interests, which is revealed in massive disinformation of the Belarusian population, violation of the Constitutional right of citizens of the Republic of Belarus to get full, correct and timely information, and also forms a negative attitude to the world hockey championship being held in the Republic of Belarus.”
Vasil Zdaniuk, chief editor of SNPlus, explained to the press service of BAJ that the information was totally correct on May 5 when the newspaper was sent for printing (at 2pm, to be more precise - the time of delivering a newspaper to the printing house is always indicated in the publishing information), and the newspaper would never provide incorrect facts.
According to the editor, the situation changed on May 6, when the newspaper already went to distributors: the Russian team unexpectedly changed its application for the championship by adding two hockey players who had played at the Olympics in Sochi.
