Hazeta Slonimskaya
Founder(s)Anna Volodarshchuk
Founded1997
LanguageBilingual (Belarusian and Russian)
HeadquartersSlonim, Belarus
Circulation7,000 to 8,000 copies
Websitewww.gs.by

Hazeta Slonimskaya (Belarusian: Газета Слонімская; Russian: Газета Слонимская; 7,000 to 8,000 copies[1]) is an independent local Belarusian newspaper. It is published in Slonim, Belarus.

History

The oldest independent newspaper in Slonim was founded in 1938 by the well-known poet Sergei Novik-Pjajun and his wife Ludmila.[2] The articles were written in Polish. Only four issues were published, then Nivik-Pjajun was arrested by the Polish government, the newspaper was closed.[3] In 1997 ‘Slonimskaya’ was revived under chief editor Victor Volodashuck.[2] Publication’s runs grew to 12500 copies per month, the staff included several journalists, marketing department, correctors, layout designer, etc. When Volodashuck died in 2019, his widow Anna took the post of chief editor.[3]

In 2006 Belposhta and Belsouzpechat (the state press distributor) refused to prolong contracts with the publication and excluded it from their catalogues.[2]

In 2008 Hazeta Slonimskaya received the Free Media Award from Die Zeit Foundation and an honorary certificate from Belarusian Association of Journalists.[3] 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.[4]

In 2017 the newspaper returned to the state catalogue and could be sold via press stands again.[3]

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.[5] As a result of that, the November 11 issue of Hazeta Slonimskaya was not published for the first time in 23 years.[5] Anna Volodarshchuk left Belarus due to the threat of criminal prosecution.[6][7]

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.[8][9] 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.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "» 37 хитростей для садоводов и огородников".
  2. 1 2 3 "«Газета Слонімская»: тернистый путь к читателю" [‘Hazeta Slonimskaya’: Thorny Path to Readers]. Mediakritika.by (in Russian). MediaKritika. 2014-04-28. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "История единственной независимой газеты Гродненщины, которая выходила 24 года, а сейчас все сложно" (in Russian). Press Club Belarus. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  4. ↑ "Reporters Without Borders stands for Hazeta Slonimskaya". Viasna96. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  5. 1 2 Служба информации «БГ» (2020-11-13). "На этой неделе не вышла "Газета Слонімская"". Brestskaya Gazeta (newspaper) (in Russian). 46 (935): 24.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ↑ "Радыё Свабода". Archived from the original on 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  7. ↑ "Учредитель «Газеты Слонімскай» покинула Беларусь из-за опасения уголовного преследования" [Founder of ‘Hazeta Slonimskaya' Forced to Leave Belarus under Threats of Criminal Charges] (in Russian). Naviny.by. 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  8. ↑ ""Газета Слонімская" прыпыніла свой выхад на паўгода" (in Belarusian). Belarusian Association of Journalists. 2020-11-18. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  9. 1 2 Петрович, Алесь (2020-11-30). "Обыск у издателя: как власти Беларуси давят на независимую прессу в регионах" (in Russian). Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
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