As for the international presence in the area of information, there are certain opportunities that exist for the Russian Federation. As in Belarus, there are about five or six channels, but because of the difficulty with the Kremlin in recent times, the Belarus authorities are banning certain Russian programs. As for the rest, then, it is all very rigidly controlled. Belsat, a television channel, as my colleagues mentioned, has tried to receive its official accreditation to no avail. It is now working illegally and could very likely be criminally prosecuted.
In the 2006 presidential campaign, there were 1,000 people in prison at the same time that I was. Of them, there were a number of international journalists, some from Canada. One was my neighbour in my cell.
We are deeply interested in having Canadian journalists come to Belarus. It's possible that they could monitor the situation and publish the situation here. It's so important. It's extremely important for information on Belarus to enter into the Canadian media. That way, it would be far more effective for Canadian politicians and officials to affect the situation.