“In connection with the apparent tendentious reports of some Russian media, in particular the newspaper “Izvestia”, on the occasion of my coming to Prague, let me say it in open that I neither asked the Czech government or president Vatslav Gavel to give me political asylum nor even intended to do so. My wife and I simply requested to let us live for a more or less extended period of time in the Czech Republic, which is necessary for my literature work and medical treatment as the one, suffering from the chronic lungs’ problems. I received this right in December 2002 not without president Gavel’s assistance. Any attempts to make a political action out of this are provocative and worthy of condemnation. “Vasyl Bykov is a citizen of the Republic of Belarus,” – these words of the Belarusian national writer have been circulated today by the Belarusian center in Prague.

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ZUBR movement cites outcomes of the year 2002. The movement’s activists presented to the public a report on their activities during the past year. In it ZUBRs tell the readers what was the “rally of the year”, “motto of the year”, “verdict of the year”, “challenge of the year”, “problem of the year”, “failure of the year”, “hope of the year” and similar.

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“Even from the Osipovichi labor camp one can clearly see that Europe’s last dictator has last remaining resource, which enables him to keep his boat afloat. This resource is fear. Same fear, which took root under the Kuropaty pines and in Stalin GULAGs. Fear, which paralyzes nation’s will to development and makes people obey criminal amoral commands, tolerate injustice and poverty, which are daily produced by today’s regime… I wish Belarusians to get free from this fear next year. So that our eternal desire “to be called people” would come out true. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you! Let love, welfare and good health accompany you all along the way. To your and our “Pagonya”, to your and our “Svaboda”! – said the condemned editor-in-chief of the closed newspaper “Pagonya” Mikola Markevich in his address to the nation.

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U.S. and British intelligence analysts are closely monitoring Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, watching as he appears publicly to embrace U.N. inspections while wooing Europeans and seeking to rally fellow Arabs in the face of the American military buildup.

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Examination of the activities of the Interior Ministry’s investigative committee chief Leonid Glukhovsky had already been accomplished, though the official hasn’t yet returned to carrying out his duties, the journalists were told today by the Interior Minister of Belarus Vladimir Naumov.

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Today, on December 27 at 2p.m. the court of the Central district of Minsk will host judicial hearings on Anatoly Lebedko’s lawsuit against KGB. The leader of the United Civil Party intends to appeal in court against the official KGB warning, issued to him on November 5.

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The Interior Minister of Belarus Vladimir Naumov is opposed to the idea of inviting foreign investigators to examine the missing oppositionists’ cases, as requested by the relatives of the disappeared. The Minister referred to the European experience of investigating such cases and the necessity to preserve investigation secrecy.

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