"The current issue of Arche came out under the title of Arche-Skaryna and lists distributors' addresses in Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. Under Belarusian regulations, two warnings within one year give the authorities grounds to close a periodical."
"Valerka Bulgakov, chief editor of Arche, calls the warning groundless. He refers to the example of Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta (Belarusian Business Gazette), which, he says, remained registered as Birzhi i Banki (Exchanges and Banks) for a long time. Mr. Bulgakov contests the second accusation too, saying nobody reads the journal outside Belarus, except a narrow circle of scholars and emigrants."
"Andrei Dynko, director of Arche, notes that the warning coincided with a refusal of the state retail chain Belkniga to sell the June issue, which focuses on Jewish culture. Worse still, Mr. Dynko says, the state-run Belarusian House of the Press has ceased printing the August issue, devoted to Belarusian writer Adam Glyobus."
"The journal heads link the 'mild repressive measures' with the contents of Arche-Skaryna, including an editorial about the government-favored journal Belaruskaya Dumka (Belarusian Thought). They say they will seek justice in court and start printing the journal with one of Minsk's private printeries."
"They also note that it is the first time a purely cultural periodical gets a warning. 'The authorities place us on the same shelf with independent newspapers - the principal target of their repressive machinery,' Mr. Bulgakov told BelaPAN. 'They consider us dangerous. It is quite an achievement for a cultural project.' "
Source: BelaPAN, No. 115; Sunday, July 30, 2000; 9:15 p.m.