Hazeta Slonimskaya

History

The oldest independent newspaper in Slonim was founded in 1938 by the well-known poet and his wife Ludmila. The articles were written in Polish. Only four issues were published, then Nivik-Pjajun was arrested by the Polish government, the newspaper was closed.{{cite web |archive-date = 2021-12-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211227171513/https://press-club.by/dosved/istoriya-edinstvennoy-nezavisimoy-gazety-grodnenshchiny |url-status = dead

In 2006 Belposhta and Belsouzpechat (the state press distributor) refused to prolong contracts with the publication and excluded it from their catalogues.{{cite news |trans-title = ‘Hazeta Slonimskaya’: Thorny Path to Readers |archive-date = 2015-07-24 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150724161322/http://mediakritika.by/article/1887/gazeta-slonimskaya-ternistyy-put-k-chitatelyu |url-status = dead

In 2008 Hazeta Slonimskaya received the Free Media Award from Die Zeit Foundation and an honorary certificate from Belarusian Association of Journalists. In the same year, before the next parliamentary elections’, Hazeta Slonimskaya experienced pressure from local authorities. It was threatened to be suspended by the district chef for selling copies not in a permitted place. Then the editors office without any explained reason received an eviction order from the state-controlled leaseholder company; all other agencies refused to deal with the publication.{{cite web |language = en

In 2017 the newspaper returned to the state catalogue and could be sold via press stands again.

Crackdown and Suspension

On November 9, 2020, the house of the founder of the newspaper Anna Volodarshchuk and the editorial office of Hazeta Slonimskaya were searched, computers and other storage media were taken away, and work was paralyzed.{{cite web | access-date =2024-03-09}} As a result of that, the November 11 issue of Hazeta Slonimskaya was not published for the first time in 23 years. Anna Volodarshchuk left Belarus due to the threat of criminal prosecution.{{cite web |trans-title = Founder of ‘Hazeta Slonimskaya' Forced to Leave Belarus under Threats of Criminal Charges |archive-date = 2021-12-27 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211227171724/https://naviny.online/new/20201114/1605353867-uchreditel-gazety-slonimskay-pokinula-belarus-iz-za-opaseniya-ugolovnogo |url-status = dead

On November 18, 2020, Anna Volodarshchuk reported that it became impossible to publish the newspaper in conditions of violence, so Hazeta Slonimskaya suspended its publication for six months. In the assessment of the chairman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Andrey Bastunets, the crackdown on Hazeta Slonimskaya confirms the pressure of the authorities on the regional press.

At the beginning of May 2021, a notification was sent to the Ministry of Information about the resumption of the newspaper's publication. On 24 May the ministry included it in the register of printed media. However, the newspaper could not be printed, as several printing houses refused to print the circulation.{{cite web | access-date =2024-03-09}}

References

References

1. "» 37 хитростей для садоводов и огородников".
2. Служба информации «БГ». (2020-11-13). "На этой неделе не вышла "Газета Слонімская"". [[Brestskaya Gazeta]].
3. "Радыё Свабода".
4. (2020-11-18). ""Газета Слонімская" прыпыніла свой выхад на паўгода". [[Belarusian Association of Journalists]].
5. Петрович, Алесь. (2020-11-30). "Обыск у издателя: как власти Беларуси давят на независимую прессу в регионах". [[Deutsche Welle]].