Pressball editor writes to Lukashenka over accreditation ban

Uladzimir Berazhkou, the editor-in-chief of Belarus's leading sports newspaper Pressball, has written an open letter to Alexander Lukashenka as the head of the state and the president of the National Olympic Committee. In an earlier development, the executive committee of the National Olympic Committee deprived this popular private newspaper of the accreditation at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Berazhkou writes in his letter that the decision was not justified and that the newspaper has simply been punished for criticism. In an interview with the Belapan news agency, Berazhkou described the deprivation of accreditation as a "filthy revenge".

Now he counts only on the help of the president. A similar situation occurred with the newspaper in 2000. Back then, Lukashenka helped Pressball to get accreditation for the Olympics.