BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/06/2008

Belarus Cracks Down on Internet News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Belarussian lawmakers gave final approval on Tuesday to a crackdown on Internet journalism.

The new measures require that all Internet sites originating in the country be registered with the government.

Many independent newspapers that the authorities closed now have a presence on the Internet.

The bill, drafted by the office of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, “is among the harshest in Europe,” said Oleg Gulak, the leader of the Belarussian Helsinki Committee rights group.

But Liliya Ananich, the first deputy information minister, said, “We have to protect society from the negative effects of the Internet.”

The legislation also provides for up to two years of imprisonment for journalists who reproduce foreign media reports that “discredit Belarus.”

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/world/europe/25belarus.html?ref=europe

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