MINSK, 11 June (BelTA) – The Information Ministry of Belarus views the removal of the Belarus 24 TV channel from the list of channels allowed for retransmission in the territory of Ukraine as yet another groundless unfriendly move of the Ukrainian authorities towards Belarusian mass media, the Information Ministry told BelTA.
“This decision by the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine reveals a distorted understanding by the Ukrainian authorities of freedom of speech and is part of consistent efforts to remove undesirable media outlets from the Ukrainian media landscape. The Belarus 24 TV channel that provided objective information about developments in and around Belarus was another media outlet banned in Ukraine. Earlier, the broadcasting of three Ukrainian opposition TV channels was banned in Ukraine on far-fetched and vague grounds,” the Information Ministry said.
The Information Ministry emphasized that censorship, pressure and retaliation against opposition media have become commonplace in today's Ukraine. “Dozens of Ukrainian journalists were killed because of their professional activities. And these crimes have not been solved so far. In addition, the lack of an adequate international response to this is another matter of concern,” the Information Ministry said.
