Students in Vitsebsk forced to subscribe to state-owned newspaper

Membership with the pro-government Belarusian Union of Youth is a mandatory condition for students at the State Technology University in Vitsebsk to join construction teams. Construction teams date back to the Soviet times when university students could make some extra money, working as odd-job workers on construction sites. The second condition is to be a subscriber of Znamya Yunosti newspaper, reports the Belarusian Association of Journalists. If the students meet these two conditions, they will be given an opportunity to earn good money: between Br 700,000 and Br 1.2 million ($350-600).

The Vitsebsk State University has a more "democratic" policy by not demanding subsriptions to government-run newspapers for a vacancy in the construction team.