UNFAIR TREATMENT

The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) wants to express its concern about the continued unfair treatment and the threats made against Dr. Oleg Manaev of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Science at the Belarus State University.

A well-respected scholar in the international academic community, Dr. Manaev's work is in the spirit of the worldwide democratic movement that puts emphasis on civil, human, and individual rights. It is precisely because of this that Dr. Manaev has been the victim of official persecution for many years.

Dr. Manaev's long service to the Belarus State University and to the Republic of Belarus deserves respect and not censure, and we strongly urge both to recognize that academic freedom is sacrosanct in the civilized world.

ECREA finds the plan to force our colleague, Dr. Manaev, to resign from his faculty position or to be fired, because he remains true to universally recognized democratic and academic values, to be unconscionable, retrograde and unacceptable.

ECREA appeals to Academician Sergey Ablameyko, the Rector of the Belarus State University, to respect the academic freedom and the achievements of our colleague, Dr. Manaev, and ensure his continued employment. We call for the respect of academic freedom for all our colleagues in the Republic of Belarus.

ECREA also appeals to President Alexander Lukashenko and his administration to cease pressuring the university to obtain Dr. Manaev's resignation or to fire him.

We also want to thank Peter Gross and Karol Jakubowicz for bringing this to our attention, and for organising the support campaign. ECREA members who want to express their individual or institutional support for Dr. Manaev can contact Peter Gross at pgross@utk.edu.