23 September 2001
Non-state publication's correspondent in Brest region denied accreditation to cover National Festival of Belarusian Films

 Yelena Cheb, the Minsk-based private newspaper Den's correspondent in the Brest region, has been denied accreditation to cover the Third National Festival of Belarusian Films, which begins in Brest on the night of September 22.
"The denial was groundless," Ms. Cheb told BelaPAN. "An official of the public relations department at the Brest City Executive Committee explained that I was on a certain 'black list.' I was not told what was that list but was given to understand that I was not alone on it." According to Mr. Cheb, she was also advised not to make a fuss and to borrow material from someone of her colleagues. The journalist noted that this was not the first time she denied the right to perform her professional duties. For instance, after she took the job of a Den correspondent,
she applied to the Brest Regional Executive Committee for accreditation but was denied without explanation. Now she is not admitted to news conferences held in the Committee's building.
The regional branch of the Belarusian Association of Journalists has described the denial of accreditation to a private publication's correspondent at the Belarusian film festival as the beginning of a new stage of Brest bureaucrats' campaign against the non-state media.