RFE/RL: Language case in Belarus

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Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 12:10:35 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: RFE/RL: Language case in Belarus 

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Panayote Elias Dimitras <[email protected]>

RFE/RL: Language case in Belarus


RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 246, Part II, 23 December 1998
 
A daily report of developments in Eastern and Southeastern Europe,
Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia prepared by the staff of Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
 
This is Part II, a compilation of news concerning Central, Eastern,
and Southeastern Europe.  Part I covers Russia, Transcaucasia and
Central Asia and is distributed simultaneously as a second document. 
Back issues of RFE/RL NewsLine and the OMRI Daily Digest are online at
RFE/RL's Web site: http://www.rferl.org/newsline


EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE
 
BELARUSIAN NEWSPAPER WINS LAWSUIT OVER SPELLING. The Higher Economic
Court on 22 December ruled in favor of the Belarusian-language
biweekly "Nasha Niva," which defied warnings by the State Press
Committee by continuing to use the traditional, non-Russified
Belarusian orthography banned by the Soviet regime in 1933 (see
"RFE/RL Newsline End Note," 10 August 1998), RFE/RL's Belarusian
Service reported. "Nasha Niva" editor Syarhey Dubavets sued the
committee after it had warned the newspaper not to "distort the
generally accepted norms of the language." A panel of linguists
assembled by the court found that no "generally accepted norms of the
language have ever been determined." The court accepted that view and
fined the committee 2.5 million Belarusian rubles ($24). Dubavets said
the verdict "provided a very positive result for the Belarusian
language itself...and those discriminated in Belarus from time
immemorial for using this language."
JM

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