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Belarus Chides U.S. for Comments on Reporter's Disappearance
Belarussian Foreign Ministry spokesman Pavel Latushko on Thursday urged the United States to objectively consider the facts concerning the disappearance of a TV cameraman and refrain from inaccurate interpretations on the issue.
Latushko was responding to a U.S. State Department spokesman's comments on the July 7 disappearance of Dmitry Zavadsky, a Belarussian national working for Russia's ORT television, the Interfax news agency reported.
The U.S. spokesman said the development considerably increases Washington's concern over the persecution of journalists, the restriction of the freedom of speech and the atmosphere of fear in Belarus.
Latushko said an investigation has been launched to establish the real reasons behind the ORT cameraman's disappearance.
In another related development Thursday, the Belarussian embassy in Moscow criticizing Russian media for what it described as biased approach to the coverage of Zavadsky's disappearance.
"Certain media outlets have been fuelling a dirty campaign lately in connection with ORT cameraman Zavadsky's disappearance," the embassy said in a statement.
"Belarussian law enforcement agencies are taking every measure to investigate this incident" and the course of the investigation "is under the Belarussian president's personal control," the statement said.
"At the same time, it is worth emphasizing that Zavadsky is a Belarussian citizen and the state is capable of looking into the situation on its own, without the intrusion of certain media which only heighten tensions and do not do anything concrete to help the investigation," the document added.
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