Kalinkina: Narodnaya Volya’s business and future are up in the air

Euroradio has talked to Svyatlana Kalinkina, deputy editor-in-chief of “Narodnaya Volya”.
Let us remind you that the Belarusian television decided that Svyatlana’s article “Goebbels-TV is broadcasting” published in Narodnaya Volya had damaged its reputation.

 

 Kalinkina: "The Economic Court supported the BT. However, I am sure that the television’s reputation is damaged by films rather than critical articles”.

 
Euroradio: How dangerous is the decision of the Supreme Economic Court for Narodnaya Volya and for you?

 
Kalinkina: "It is dangerous for Narodnaya Volya and for everyone because it means that my personal opinion was disputed. It was an author’s article and my personal opinion. The Belarusian Constitution grants freedom of opinion and says that nobody can be made to refuse from their opinion under any circumstances. However, this is a situation when a person, in this case it is me, is being made to change their opinion and the opinion is being disputed. It is very dangerous. Ordinary people and newspapers cannot go to the Constitutional Court in our country so it is a legal deadlock. It is also dangerous for Narodnaya Volya because it is one more formal reason to say that we are violating the law too much and that the newspaper should be closed down. The Ministry of Information sticks to this position”.

 
Euroradio: How does the newspaper exist up in the air and what do you think will happen next?

 
Kalinkina: "Narodnaya Volya’s business and future are really up in the air. However, the Supreme Court has not considered the appeal of the Ministry of Information to close down the newspaper yet because there was a legal blunder. The Ministry was in a hurry, our business was not over but it demanded to close down the edition. We will fight. We will have more hearings and try to appeal the warnings pronounced to our newspaper. Of course, nobody can have great confidence in the future in our country especially if they deal with such critical political and social topics."

 

Photo by: bymedia.com