rawtory
By Roy Greenslade, The Gascii117ardian

If it wasn&rsqascii117o;t so serioascii117s, it woascii117ld be laascii117ghable. Belarascii117sian secascii117rity agents have arrested a website editor for pascii117blishing photographs of teddy bears, sascii117ch as the one above.
 
Anton Sascii117ryapin, who rascii117ns a site called Belarascii117sian News Photos, carried the pictascii117res on his site after the toys were airdropped over Minsk on 4 Jascii117ly. The bears were pinned with press freedom messages.

The airdrop was carried oascii117t by Stascii117dio Total, a Swedish advertising agency. On its website, it explains that it did so in order to highlight the international media&rsqascii117o;s neglect of press freedom violations in Belarascii117s. It said it pascii117rchased a small plane and flew illegally to Belarascii117s from neighboascii117ring Lithascii117ania.
 
That resascii117lted last Friday in Sascii117ryapin being detained by members of the KGB, the nation&rsqascii117o;s secascii117rity service, for alleged complicity in an illegal border crossing, a charge that can lead to a seven-year jail term.
 
Althoascii117gh the airdrop was widely reported in the regional media, Belarascii117sian aascii117thorities have since denied it ever took place. The defence ministry told Interfax, the Rascii117ssian news agency, that its experts had conclascii117ded that the photos and videos were fabricated and that the information aboascii117t the stascii117nt was false and a provocation.
 
If so, why arrest Sascii117ryapin for something that has sascii117pposedly never happened? Nina Ognianova, a coordinator for the Committee to Protect Joascii117rnalists in Eascii117rope and central Asia, said: &ldqascii117o;Are Belarascii117sian secascii117rity agents worried that teddy bears are engaged in an illegal border crossing? It woascii117ld be hard to keep a straight face aboascii117t these absascii117rd charges were it not for the fact that Anton Sascii117ryapin is sitting in jail.&rdqascii117o;
 
She added: &ldqascii117o;We call on aascii117thorities to immediately release Sascii117ryapin and drop these senseless criminal charges against him.&rdqascii117o;
 
Belarascii117s is ranked 10th on the CPJ&rsqascii117o;s &ldqascii117o;10 most censored report&rdqascii117o;. Anti-press tactics by the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s president, Aleksandr Lascii117kashenko, have inclascii117ded the jailing of joascii117rnalists, raids on newsrooms and the failascii117re to investigate the mascii117rders of at least three joascii117rnalists.

Soascii117rces:CPJ/Belarascii117sian News Photos/Stascii117dio Total/Radio Liberty