In Minsk, the Supreme Court liquidated the Belarusian Association of Journalists

The Supreme Court of Belarus upheld the claim of the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), informs site of the organization.

In July, the Ministry of Justice went to court with a statement of claim “in connection with the failure to take measures to eliminate violations by the BAJ and repeated (after a written warning) violation of the law”. Earlier, the department issued a warning to the organization, which stated that the association did not provide all the documents requested earlier. In addition, the ministry had questions about contracts for some branches of the organization, writes “New Newspaper”.

At the same time, the BAJ informed the Ministry of Justice about the lack of access to the requested documents.

“BAJ is also a globally recognized organization, – said Belsat news agency, BAJ deputy chairman Boris Goretsky. “Our international partners have already stated that even if the BAJ is liquidated, we will remain its members, and they will fully support us in our activities for the benefit of free media in Belarus.”

In February, the security forces came with searches to the leaders of the organization. On July 14, searches were again carried out in the BAJ and in the apartments of its leaders. At the same time, law enforcement officers visited the offices of 23 more organizations.

Searches took place not only in Minsk, but also in Grodno, Brest, Orsha, Borisov, Gomel, Polotsk.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists is a non-governmental association of citizens who are engaged in professional journalistic activities or contribute to its development. The organization was founded in 1995 and has almost 1,500 members.