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Tax ministry planning fresh audit at Nasha Niva publisher

The tax ministry plans an audit at Surodzichy, the company that publishes Nasha Niva, days after the pro-opposition newspaper received two warnings from the information ministry, BelaPAN reports.

A tax officer said on Monday that the extraordinary audit had been ordered by the minister.

The Nasha Niva publisher was inspected by tax officers in September 2008. Under Alyaksandr Lukashenka's edict, such companies should be audited only once in five years.

Last month Nasha Niva slapped with two written warnings from the information ministry over two pieces related to a Russian television channel's scandalous documentary dealing with Mr. Lukashenka's political rule and private life.

The first warning was issued on July 22 over Nasha Niva's article that accused the authorities of confiscating the Belarusian-language paper's issue that featured a story about “Kryostny Batska” (The Godbatska), a documentary aired by Russia's NTV that was censored from the channel's version broadcast in Belarus.

The article claimed that the July 7 issue had not been available at newsstands despite being printed. The ministry, in its warning, said that the edition had reached Belsayuzdruk newsstands and stores and the paper's accusation was false.

The second warning was issued on July 26 over the heading of the paper's article about an event held by members of the pro-government Belarusian National Youth Union to protest the broadcast of the documentary. The headline said, "BNYU advertises 'Godbatska' with help of garbage."

The ministry explained that the headline damaged the reputation of the government-funded youth organization, saying that the event had not been meant to advertise the film.