NEWSPAPER GRAB APPEALED TO BELARUS COURT.

Belarus parliament chairman Semyon Sharetsky has petitioned the Constitutional Court for a ruling on President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s recent decree making the parliament’s newspaper Narodnaya gazeta subordinate to the executive branch. Sharetsky pointed out that the move contravenes the constitutional separation of powers as well as violating the freedom of the press in an attempt to silence criticism. (Interfax, July 8)

Press Unfreedom in Moldova.