BAJ and Ministry of Justice to meet in court today

The first meeting of representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Ministry of Justice will take place in the Supreme Court today. The deputy BAJ chairperson, lawyer Andrei Bastunets, has told ERB about it. Andrei Bastunets: “It will be a preparatory meeting; the case will not be discussed there. The judge will have to define the positions of the two sides and find out if they have changed. It is necessary to reveal if witnesses have to be summoned or some proof has to be presented. Probably, the judge will suggest a voluntary settlement of the case”.
However, the lawyer says he can hardly imagine a voluntary settlement in this situation. That is why the BAJ will insist on complete cancellation of all the accusations of the Ministry of Justice directed against the association of journalists.

The BAJ will be represented by the organization’s chairperson Zhanna Litvina and lawyers Andrei Bastunets and Mihail Pastuhou. It is not clear who is going to represent the Ministry of Justice.

Let us remind you that the Ministry has accused the organization of several violations at a time: they concern its membership certificates, the status of the Centre for mass media protection and the goals of the BAJ. The warning sent to the BAJ on January 13 was signed by the deputy Minister Alyaksandr Simanau. The Belarusian Association of Journalists sent a complaint about the pronounced warning to the Supreme Court on February 11.