Ever since the 2006 presidential campaign, the biggest Belarusian independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya has been cold, even inimical towards Milinkevich. But now the newspaper’s bias against this politician has gone a bit too far.

Last week, Narodnaya Volya published an article by Mikhail Podolyak titled “Bleacher M.” In this opus, Milinkevich was accused of being part of a secret plot between him, Lukashenka, and some European political forces. Podolyak claimed there was a European plan “Solana/Lukashenka.” According to this plan, Milinkevich would be given a post inside the Belarusian government and Lukashenka would get another legitimized presidential term. In their turn, Europeans would win favorable conditions for business in Belarus.

Podolyak unveiled that, during the next presidential elections, Milinkevich would become a “technical” candidate, supported by Europe, he would get some 20-25% votes and would be offered a post of the vice president in the next Lukashenka’s cabinet. The latter would most certainly win the vote with triumph, wrote Podolyak.

This article first appeared in March on a tabloid website kompromatby.com. Then it went unnoticed. But last week, when Narodnaya Volya reprinted it, Milinkevich responded with an angry letter to Iosif Syaredzich, the editor of the newspaper. Milinkevich claimed that the article was libelous and demanded to publish his response to Podolyak’s accusations.

Both Syaredzich and Milinkevich were interviewed by RFE\RL after the incident. Narodnaya Volya editor surely refuted the libel claim saying that only court could decide whether it was libel or not. Syredzich is well familiar with the Belarusian legal system. His newspaper was brought to court on multiple occasions. But not by an opposition leader. If Milinkevich filed a lawsuit against an independent newspaper, well, that would really mean his political death. I am sure he is not that stupid. But then, what exactly is Syaredzich doing?

Podolyak is a well-known scooper whose articles often lack proper fact-checking. Many of his stories are off any limits crossing the boundary between journalism and, well, story-telling, pun intended. The libelous nature of “Bleacher M” is very explicit.

Syaredzich, as an editor, is known for his terminator-style journalism. But in this case, I am wondering what he thought of the journalistic ethics? Does he really care about such thing? Remember Belarus is the country where courts do not properly work and the state-run media will be glad to use this opportunity to mock at another feud within the opposition ranks. How about the ethics when there are just two independent newspapers – Narodnaya Volya and Nasha Niva – allowed back into the state-run distribution system? Are we entitled to publish whatever we like?