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Web Cartoons in a Closed Society: Animal Farm as an Allegory of Post-Communist Belarus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2007

Olena Nikolayenko
Olena Nikolayenko
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Extract

Political humor directed at President Alyaksandr Lukashenka is beyond the official boundaries of the permissible in Belarus, a former Soviet Republic tucked away on the eastern border of the European Union and oft labeled “Europe's last dictatorship.” In August 2005, KGB officers raided the Minsk office of the civic group Third Way, confiscated the computer equipment, and threatened criminal charges for posting animated cartoons on the group's web site (http://mult.3dway.org). Oleg Minich, the cartoonist and founder of the virtual cartoon club Multclub, faced imprisonment of up to five years. His alleged crime falls under Article 367 of the Criminal Code, “Defamation of the President of the Republic of Belarus.” This flagrant attack on the freedom of expression was part of a broader crackdown on the mass media in preparation for the 2006 presidential election.

Type
SYMPOSIUM—GLOBAL POLITICS
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 307 - 310
Copyright
© 2007 The American Political Science Association

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