The Belarusian Association of Journalists, which was not invited to the fifth International Media Forum "Partnership for the Future" which is taking place June 8-11 in Minsk, sent an open address to the participants of the forum.
In this message the BAJ wished the Forum fruitful work and expressed the hope "that the meeting will address the issues connected to the standards of journalism, professional ethics, information access, and other challenges of today".
"Searches and interrogations of journalists, seizure of their professional equipment, denials of accreditation and access to information, non-registration of several new publications, ban on distributing the press "out of favour" through the public distribution system, restrictions on advertising in the independent press, warnings to the media and the threat of their closure is only a small part of the problems faced by independent Belarusian journalists and the independent media", it is said in the message.
The Belarusian Association of Journalists also called on participants of the forum to discuss the issue of implementation of the intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the field of the press and expressed the hope that this would be reflected in the "Minsk Initiative" of the fifth Belarusian International Media Forum that was planned to be adopted, as well as other real problems of real journalism.
