Hearing of BAJ’s complaint appointed for March 17

The Supreme Court will consider the complaint of the Belarusian Association of Journalists about the warning pronounced by the Ministry of Justice on March 17 at 10 a.m. The date has been appointed at the first meeting of the two sides in court today, on February 25. The case is pled by a judge of the Supreme Court Anatol Tserah. According to the BAJ press service, a preliminary conversation has taken place to get ready for the hearing. The Judge has defined the positions of both sides and has found out they have not changed: the Ministry of Justice insists that the warning was pronounced according to the law and the BAJ thinks that the order of the Ministry has no legal basis and insists on its cancellation.

A member of BAJ Alyaksandr Dzyanisau is expected to be summoned in court on March 17. He was detained at Neman glass plant while “making a video report” in November 2009. According to the warning pronounced by the Ministry of Justice, the fact that he showed a BAJ ID made the Ministry conclude that “members of the organization used powers of mass media journalists without any legal basis…”

According to the judge, the hearing on March 17 will be open.