On January 12 the meeting of the political parties and public associations of the People’s coalition “Five Plus” took place for the first time this year. According to the information of its participants, the first ten days of the year 2005 was not a time of rest for them, but a time for serious work. It is not excluded that in a week we could hear the name of the democratic forces single candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. The information about this opportunity was reveal in a special interview of the United Civil Party leader Anatol Lyabedzka to Radio Svaboda after the meeting:

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Former Soviet bloc states voiced concern Wednesday at developments including "violation of norms and basic principles" in neighbouring Belarus, whose authoritarian rule has come under international criticism.

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Foreign Ministry of Belarus has published “National Report on Export Control Policy, Weapons and Military Equipment Export in 2003-2004”. Unlike the previous report, there is no information about the countries to which the Belarusian military equipment was sold. There is no information about types of the equipment and volumes of trade.

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The Belarusian political prisoner Mikhail Marynich accomplished 65 years today. The politicians celebrates his anniversary in the remand prison of the Interior Ministry in the Valadarski street. On December 30 the Minsk district court found former minister of foreign economic relations, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Belarus Mikhail Marynich guilty of misappropriation office equipment, which had been given for temporary use by US Embassy to the Belarusian public association “Business Initiative” headed by him. The politician has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment in medium-security colony and confiscation of property. The steering committee of the Charter’97 wishes Mikhail Marynich courage and firmness in these times, which are difficult both for him and for Belarus. For yours and our freedom!

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The Information Minister of Belarus Uladzimir Rusakevich told about it the Interfax agency. The Information Ministry is satisfied by the results of the subscription campaign. 25% for leading state newspapers is a significant rise, told the minister.

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The European Commission will consider funding a foreign-based information center that would provide unbiased coverage of the situation in Belarus. As Bogdan Klich, a member of the European Parliament representing Poland, told BelaPAN, a group of Belarusian journalists have come out with the proposal to launch a center that would run a TV channel and a radio station broadcasting to Belarus, as well as several websites.

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The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified Sudan and Ivory Coast as major customers purchasing Belarusian weapons and military equipment in 2003. According to the data sent to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, Sudan imported from Belarus nine BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, 39 BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles, 16 D-30 howitzer guns, 10 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers and six Grad multiple rocket launchers of two different versions.

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The police of Belarus are doing their best for finding Belarusian citizens that had disappeared without traces, told the head of the Interior Ministry, major general Uladzimir Navumau at a press conference on January 12. Saying it he underlined that he is not dividing the disappeared for common citizens and “standing out from all others”. (The question of a journalist has concerned search of Yuri Zakharanka. Viktar Hanchar, Anatol Krasouski, Zmitser Zavadski. – BelaPAN). “Another question is that sometimes because of the interests of the family, of these people and because of other circumstances these actions are not given coverage to by anyone,” U.Navumau told.

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The leadership of the European Union expressed concern in connection with imposition of a sentence to the leader of Belarusian opposition Mikhail Marynich by a Minsk district court. It is declared in a statement on Wednesday in Brussels by a press service of, Luxembourg the country presiding in the EU since January 1. The lawsuit on the case of Marynich is called “politically motivated”, and the sentence “disproportionate”, which again puts in question Belarus’ statements about respect of fundamental principles of civil law, the statement emphasizes.

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