Belarusian independent media outlets are accusing the government of blocking their websites less than a week before the presidential election.
Websites of the BelaPAN news agency and the online publication Naviny.by have been unreachable since October 3 because of what is known as a distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attack.
The publications said on October 5 that their sites were attacked after they ran stories about university students being forced to go to a public prayer attended by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his 12-year-old son.
Most Belarusian media are under either direct or indirect government control.
Belarusians go to the polls on October 11 to elect their president. Lukashenka, who has been in office since 1994, is widely expected to be reelected.
