Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MINSK1084
2006-10-05 09:55:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:  

NEW EU INTEREST IN VISA BANS ON STATE MEDIA

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL BO 
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PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 050955Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5178
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 1295
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 001084 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BO
SUBJECT: NEW EU INTEREST IN VISA BANS ON STATE MEDIA

REF: A. MINSK 433

B. MINSK 796

C. MINSK 975

D. MINSK 1036

Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 001084

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BO
SUBJECT: NEW EU INTEREST IN VISA BANS ON STATE MEDIA

REF: A. MINSK 433

B. MINSK 796

C. MINSK 975

D. MINSK 1036

Classified By: Ambassador Karen Stewart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Embassy Minsk recommends that the Department renew its
efforts to persuade European allies to expand the current EU
visa ban against top officials of the Lukashenko regime to
include twelve state media executives and journalists, who
are responsible for some of the most egregious propaganda
designed to conceal GOB electoral fraud and other abuses.
This proposed expansion will undoubtedly face some reluctance
on the grounds that state journalists are not GOB "action
officers" and that targating journalists violates liberal
democracy's fundamental principle of freedom of the press.
However, meetings with EU diplomats in Minsk following
Belarusian state media's collusion wiph the BKGB to violate a
Latvian diplomatic residence in July suggest that Brussels
now regards state journalists more as agents of the
Lukashenko regime than as real journalists. Ultimately, the
expansion of the EU visa ban to include state propagandists
would help focus the international spotlight on GOB
repression of truly indepen
dent media. End Summary.

Past EU Reluctance To Include Propagandists in the Visa Ban
-------------- --------------


2. (C) By May, the Unite` States and EU had 31 individuals in
common on their visa ban lists. They included top leadership
of the Lukachenko regime and Central Election Commission
members who were directli responsible for fraud and human
rights violadions during the 2006 presidential campaign and
election. The joint ban also included one individual who
heads Belarusian state-run meDia. The USG had initiaLly
sought to include the most egregious mid-level GOB media
executives afd journalists on the joant U.S.-EU ban to
hig`light their role as enablers of GOB repression against
opposition and human rights activists, but EU diplomats
expressed doubts whether European governments would consent
(ref A).

The EU Takes a New Look after Latvian Episode
--------------



3. (C) Following recent meetings with EU diplomats in Minsk,
7e believe the time has come to renew the Department's
efforts to pers5ade U.S. European allies to expand the
current EU visa ban to include state-media executives and
high-profile journalists, who are in effect the field
commanders of the GOB propaganda machine. We think that the
expansion of the EU visa ban will intensify the international
spotlight on GOB repression of true journalists and therefore
recommend the renewed effort begin with twelve state media
figures (see para. 10).


4. (C) On September 27, German Embassy First Secretary Dr.
Tilman Schmit-Neuerberg confirmed for Poloff that none of
these individuals are currently included on the EU visa b`n
list. Moreover, he related that interest among EU missions
in including state media in the joint U.S.-EU ban had
significantly strengthened because of Belarusian state
television's egregious collusion with the BKGB to violate a
Latvian diplomat's immunity (ref B) and the continual
harassment of foreign diplomats during official meetings with
human rights and opposition activists. On September 29,
Schmit-Neuerberg notified Poloff that the German Embassy,
which currently represents the Finnish EU presidency, intends
to raise the inclusion of state journalists on the EU visa
ban at an upcoming meeting of EU missions in Minsk.


5. (C) When Poloff asked whether the Department would still
encounter some resistance when discussing such an expansion
of the visa ban with EU governmejts, Schmit-Neuerberg replied
"possibly, but much less than before." However, he asserted
that most EU governments could be convinced that, in reality,
Belarusian state journalists are agents of the Lukashenko
regime and, thus, there is no freedom of presq in Belarus to
violate by banning travel by state propagandists.

State Journalists Are Agents of the State
--------------


6. (C) In response to potential objections to extending the

MINSK 00001084 002 OF 004


travel ban to state media employees on the grounds that they
ostensibdy are not GOB officials in the same sense as those
included in the previouq EU visa ban, we recommend the
following counter-arguments:

-- Mid-level employees of state-run newspapers and the state
television broadcast monopoly answer to top GOB officials,
such as National State TeleRadio Company Chair Aleksandr
Zimovsky, who is on the current U.S. and EU visa ban lists.


-- State media enjoy protection and close cooperation with
the BKGB and other security services. This relationship was
dramatically demonstrated in July when state television
broadcast video footage obtained from cameras planted subrosa
by Belarusian security services in a Latvian diplomat's
residence. Moreover, state journalists routinely accompany
GOB intelligence officers as they surveil and intimidate
members of the Belarusian opposition and/or independent media
during meetings with U.S. diplomats (refs C and D).


7. (C) In short, Belarusian state journalists are not true
journalists; they are high-profile agents of the Lukashenko
regime.

There Is No Freedom of Press in Belarus to Violate
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Conceding that state journalists are not independent,
the unconvinced may compare BT and other state media to the
Voice of America or Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and
oppose such a ban on the grounds that even state media are
protected under liberal democracy's principle of freedom of
the press. Indeed, this principle would hold true if freedom
of the press existed in Belarus. However, in reality, the
regime uses every means at its disposal, direct and indirect,
to repress independent media to the point where there is
virtually no freedom of press to violate by banning state
journalists.

-- Direct Repression. In December 2005, President Lukashenko
signed amendments that criminalize the dissemination of what
the GOB considers "false information" about Belarus. The
amendments followed the authorities' closure of five
independent newspapers and evictions of several others from
their offices. Furthermore, the Belarusian authorities
frequently arrest or detain foreign and independent
journalists and destroy their source materials. Finally,
independent journalists report to the Embassy that the
authorities often prevent them from attending official press
conferences and from receiving information from official
sources.

-- Indirect Repression. Throughout Belarus, independent
media face numerous distribution problems resulting from GOB
pressure, including exclusion from the Belarusian postal
service catalogue and state-controlled kiosks. Encouraged
and empowered by national authorities, local officials use
economic instruments, such as arbitrary restrictions on
advertisers and subscriptions and special punitive tax rates
to keep independent media in a perpetual state of bankruptcy.
Moreover, authorities frequently bar independent journalists
from employment in state-owned companies.

Post's Proposed List: The Dirty Dozen
--------------


9. (C) We propose the following individuals already on the
U.S. visa ban list, be included in the EU visa ban (alternate
spellings in parentheses followed by known dates and places
of birth):

-- Yuriy Vladimirovich Azerenok (Yury Uladzimiravich
Azerenok),b. Vitebsk, Belarus, 27 February 1965. Answering
directly to Zimovsky, Azerenok is Deputy Head of Belarus'
National State Tele-Radio Company, which controls BT, ONT,
and several regional state television and radio networks.

-- Yevgeny Viktorovich Novikov (Yauheni Viktaravich Novikau),
b. Belarus, 1956. Novikov is Deputy Head of TV channel "BT."
Under Novikov's leadership, BT produced numerous weekly
propaganda programs designed to conceal GOB election fraud
and other human rights abuses. For example, "Panorama" aired
numerous reports designed to obstruct international election
observation and conceal systematic GOB fraud and abuse during
the 2004 parliamentary elections, such as "Belarus Welcomes
Foreign Observers" in September 2004. In February, during
the 2006 presidential campaign, Panorama ran a six-day series
disparaging the opposition and staged a fake call in program

MINSK 00001084 003 OF 004


with Central Election Commission Secretary Nikolay Lozovik.
Meanwhile, Panorama devoted more than 40 percent of its
stories, all positive, to President Lukashenko and less than
0.5 percent to opposition candidates.

-- Yuriy Groyerov (Yury Groerau). Groerov is Deputy Director
of Information Service, TV channel "BT." Groerov coordinates
collection of information on opposition groups and foreign
diplomats for BT documentaries. As recently as August 27,
Groyerov collaborated with Yury Propokov to produce a story
aired on BT program "In Focus" about U.S.- and EU-supported
opposition groups allegedly training in secret camps in
Belarus to stage a violent coup against the GOB.

-- Grigory Leonidevich Kisel (Hryhory Leanidavich Kisel),b.
Zdudichi, Gomel Oblast, 23 August 1955. Kisel is head of TV
channel "ONT," a partner company of TV channel "BT" within
the National State TeleRadio Company.

-- Yuri Vasilevich Koziyatko (Yury Vasilyevich Kaziyatka),b.
Brest, Belarus, 1964. Koziyatko is head of TV channel "STV."
STV is a Minsk city government company that broadcasts on a
frequency expropriated by the GOB from independent "Channel
8" in January 2001. Koziyatko enjoys close contact with
President Lukashenko. Under Koziyatko's leadership, STV has
repeatedly run numerous interviews with President Lukashenko
and documentaries maligning opposition leaders, including
"Conspirology," which was produced during Belarus' 2004
parliamentary elections.

-- Yuri Propokov (Yury Prakopau),b. 7 October 1978.
Propokov is the producer, host, and journalist with TV
channel "BT." On September 6, Propokov produced a BT story
that manipulated past footage of Emboffs' regional travels
throughout Belarus to allege that U.S. diplomats raid secret
opposition headquarters to locate opposition activists who
will work as USG agents. Propokov previously produced and
hosted numerous stories and documentaries maligning foreign
diplomats and Belarusian human rights groups, including an
expose violating the residence of a Latvian diplomat in July,
the 2006 documentary "Diplomatic Mission Impossible," and a
malicious September 2005 anti-opposition segment on BT's
program "In Focus."

-- Yuriy Lednik (Yury Lednik). Lednik is a journalist of TV
channel BT who hosted numerous pro-regime, anti-opposition,
and anti-West stories produced by Propokov during the 2006
presidential elections. On July 5, Lednik hosted a story
that was produced with footage from the Independence Day
party at the Ambassador's residence and portrayed opposition
leaders and human rights activists in attendance as
soliciting and embezzling USG money for personal gain.

-- Gleb Lavrov (Hleb Laurau). Lavrov is a high-profile
journalist of TV channel "BT" and is said to boast of being
head of BT's "counter-propaganda team." Lavrov hosted
numerous pro-regime and anti-opposition stories produced by
Propokov during the 2006 presidential elections.

-- Aleksandr Averkov (Aleksandr Averkau),b. Arkadan, Saratov
Oblast, Russia, 23 January 1960. Journalist of TV channel
"ONT." Averkov produced numerous stories intended to conceal
GOB human rights abuses during the March presidential
election.

-- Viktor Valentinovich Chikin (Viktar Valiantsinavich
Chykin),b. Minsk, 9 April 1949. Chikin is Editor of the
state-run paper "Seven Dnei," which published numerous
articles intended to conceal GOB human rights abuses during
the March presidential election.

-- Yevgeniy Antonovich Rostikov (Yauheni Antonovich
Rastikau),b. 1945, Vitebsk, Belarus. Rostikov is a
journalist with the state-run paper "Respublika." He
regularly writes stories maligning Belarusian opposition
groups, such as February 9 story alleging U.S. and EU support
for Belarusian youth militants at training bases in
Lithuania.

-- Pavel Izotovich Yakubovich (Pavel Izotavich Yakubovich),
b. Unecha, Bryansk Oblast, Russia. Yakubovich is the Editor
of the state-run newspaper "Sovetskaya Belarussiya," which
published numerous articles intended to conceal GOB human
rights abuses during the March presidential election.
Yakubovich oversaw the printing of 830,000 copies (300,000
more than normal circulation) of the paper's March 15 issue,
which headlined articles denouncing the opposition for trying
to steal a "good and pure life" from the Belarusian people
with the aid of "political technologies" financed from

MINSK 00001084 004 OF 004


abroad. Yakubovich himself praised the articles as
"describing the situation in terms of what we have achieved
over all these years."

Comment
--------------


10. (C) This proposed expansion of the visa ban will
certainly face some opposition from certain circles of the
EU. However, this opposition will likely be less intense
than before and more receptive to the arguments offered
herein in the wake of state television's recent collusion
with the BKGB to violate a Latvian diplomat's residence.
Ultimately, the expansion of the EU visa ban to include GOB
pseudo-journalists will focus the international spotlight on
GOB repression of independent media.
Stewart