The Supreme Economic Court on 13 November shut down the opposition Belarusian-language weekly "Pahonya" based in Hrodna

The Supreme Economic Court on 13 November shut down the opposition Belarusian-language weekly "Pahonya" based in Hrodna, a regional center in northwestern Belarus, Belarusian media reported. The court liquidated the newspaper under Belarus's media law, which allows for a publication to be closed after receiving two warnings from the authorities within a year. "Pahonya" received its first warning in October 2000. The second came on 21 September 2001, in response to the publication of materials before the 9 September presidential election on President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's alleged role in the disappearance of opposition politicians. At that time police seized the entire issue with the incriminating materials, while prosecutors sued "Pahonya" for defaming the president. "This is a shame for the Belarusian jurisprudence, for Belarus and Belarusians," Editor in Chief Mikola Markevich commented on the verdict closing "Pahonya."