Aidan White: “As long as journalists are repressed in Belarus, we will demand isolation of Lukashenka’s regime”
- 12.11.2009, 13:47
The International Federation of Journalists states that the European Union should adhere to principles in relations to the country where freedom of expression is absent, and journalists’ rights violated.
Aidan White, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, told Euromost.org website about the problems faced by independent media now, and how political corruption and repressions could be struggled against.
- How do you estimate the level of mass media freedom in the world?
- So far there is an opinion prevailing in many countries that when you work in politics, you have a right to force your ideas on mass media, for mass media to reflect only your opinion. The notion of pluralism is not completely understood in such countries. And it is a challenge. It is a form of political corruption. It is especially hard to overcome in the conditions of economic survival. Such a corruption is a serious problem for journalists. Journalists want be free, say the truth and be useful for the society. But when they have to work in the conditions of such political corruption, these expectations are impossible to be implemented in life. These two notions are inseparably interrelated: free media and state structures respecting democracy and keeping their dirty hands away from journalists!
- The European Union is actively promoting the Eastern Partnership program. But many countries participating in this program face problems named by you. And in some places journalists are just dreaming about freedom of mass media…
- We also want to make European structures understand: free system of mass media, independent journalists’ community is a necessary condition for introduce democracy in your region. And we ask the European parliament to adopt this priority. And signs received by us mean that they listen to us and take us seriously. An inter-faction group in the European Parliament including three parties was created. Its agenda is assistance and development of journalists’ professional organisations. Besides, a few weeks ago I had a meeting with the EU Commissioner who is in change of our sphere in the European Commission. We spoke about the necessity to make mass media future in your region to become in the focus of concern of the EU over the next 5 years. And I think they have heard me.
- It is hard to judge about that so far, especially while the European Union is very active in establishing friendship with Lukashenka. But the IFJ knows perfectly well how freedom of expression in Belarus looks like. Maybe it’s high time for the IFJ to mount the journalists’ community and inspire them for more active coverage of life in our country, isn’t it? Should we make the EU understand it’s still early to make friends with Lukashenka?
- We are not a political organisation. But for us too there is politics we agree with and the politics we disagree with. The policy of authoritarianism and control over information pursued by Lukashenka is the policy we find odious. We tell all our partners that civil and professional rights are violated in Belarus. And we say to governments that if you want political agreements, if you want economic agreements with Belarus, if you want Belarus to play its role in European social and economic system, it’s great. But only under conditions of respect to basic democratic values. In particular, it is the right for freedom of expression for Belarusian citizens. We will continue to issue reports on violation of rights of journalists and freedom of mass media in Belarus. We will continue to visit your country and make monitoring. And we will continue to use the Council of Europe and other organizations in order to get across the message – NOT TO WORK WITH LUKASHENKA! When he represses journalists and limits freedom of mass media. It is a legitimate demand of such an organization as ours.
Lukashenka’s policy would be finally eradicated. But it would be eradicated only when all the countries would work together in this direction, though the OSCE, the EU, the Council of Europe, in order to isolate Lukashenka’s regime. We will harshly criticize what is going on in Belarus, and we would press for changes.