The letter with the invitation to take part in the international conference Forum-2000 was sent to the single democratic candidate for presidency Alyaksandr Milinkevich personally by former president of the Czech Republic, a playwright Vaclav Havel.
Representatives of national minorities and religious denominations who signed the Address to Alyaksandr Lukashenka in support of the leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Andzhelika Borys, not recognized by the authorities, could have serious troubles.
On October 5 "Narodnaja Vola"`s subscribers received one more issue of the newspaper, printed in Smolensk, Russia. The deputy editor-in-chief Sviatlana Kalinkina informed BAJ about it. The issue was dedicated to the Congress of Democratic Forces that took place last weekend. According to S.Kalinkina, the newspaper will be printed 5 times per week, as usual.
For more than 6 months the leader of vendors’ organization, a political prisoner, a member of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus” Valery Levaneuski is trying to challenge the penalties imposed on him. He had interposed appeals from the judgement in local courts and the prosecutor’s office many times. However they refuse to consider such appeals.
Brother of Andzhelika Borys, the chairperson of the Union of Poles in Belarus not recognized by the authorities, has to resign from job. Viktar Borys, who works in Hrodna police, is offered to leave his place of his own accord.
Tadeusz Kruczkowski, the former chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus [ZPnB], has been banned from entering Poland. Kruczkowski has told [public] Polish Radio that a Border Guard [SG] employee at the border crossing in Kuznica Bialostocka annuled his Polish visa.
[Reporter] The functionary also wrote-out a form from which it transpires that Tadeusz Kruczkowski presents a threat to the defence system of, and public order in, Poland.
Belarus` opposition presidential hopeful Aleksandr Milinkevich told the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets that he is ready to promote ties with Russia and reckon with that country`s geopolitical interests.
The expansion of Deutsche Welle`s broadcasting to Belarus funded by the European Union is regarded by official Minsk as an unfriendly step on the part of the European Union. "Deutsche Welle broadcasting to Belarus, which started today, will not further friendly relations between Belarus and EU member states," the acting head of the information directorate of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Ruslan Yesin, said today answering a question from ITAR-TASS. He said that using mass media to promote political agendas, a tool widely used by some European politicians, "is not only out of step with times, but also a return to the methods of the distant past".
Discrimination against ethnic Russians in the Baltic States, transit restrictions for Russians traveling to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and the suppression of dissent in Belarus will be high on the agenda of the Russia-EU summit in London, a Kremlin source said Tuesday. The source said Russia will again call the European Commission`s attention to Latvia`s and Estonia`s discriminatory policies vis-a-vis their large Russian-speaking communities and to Lithuania`s attempts to hinder the travel of Russian passengers and cargoes to and from Kaliningrad.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka believes that it is necessary to give new momentum to the Non-Aligned Movement. He said about that today at the meeting with vice president of India, a chairman of the Union of States of this country’s parliament Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. “Belarus and India are members of the Non-Aligned Movement. It is known that Belarus is the only European state which is a participant of this powerful movement. India plays one of the key roles in it. We would like to align positions and give more dynamism to the movement,” the Belarusian leader said.
On October 3 an influential international organization "Reporters Without Borders" demanded that Aliaksandar Lukashenka should stop the persecution of independent Belarusian editions. The main reason for this demand was the fact that the contract according to which "Narodnaja Vola" used to be printed and distributed had been cancelled and another reason was the huge fine that the editorial staff of "BDG. Delovaja Gazeta" had to pay.
Ukraine`s was orange; neighboring Georgia`s was rose. But Belarus hasn`t yet picked a color for its revolution. Back in 1989, when the first winds of change toppled the Soviet empire like a house of cards, Czechoslovakia had a "velvet" revolution. Lucky Czechs, lucky Slovaks. Belarusians are not expecting a similar smooth ride. "More like Romania maybe," said Anton Cialezhnikau, 23, a pro-democracy activist from Belarus. "Lukashenko is a pretty brutal leader and he has powerful instruments of repression at his disposal."
Belarus`s last independent daily newspaper has gone out of business as a result of alleged pressure from the state, in a move criticised by international press freedom groups. Narodnaya Volya, or "People`s Will", was forced to close after two state distributors and a publishing house decided to cancel their contracts, citing different reasons.
Belarus`s main opposition newspaper, Narodnaya volya, did not appear on the streets of Minsk on October 1. On September 20, its assets were seized by the Lenin district court in Minsk, and the printing house and factory responsible for distributing the newspaper annulled their agreements on the grounds that Narodnaya volya had published materials that contradict the laws of the Republic of Belarus, specifically the law "On the Press and other Mass Media." On September 28, the directors of Belsayuzdruk and Mingorsoyuzpechat (M. Padhainy and I.V. Dudich) issued separate resolutions canceling agreements with the newspaper, and on the same day, the Chyrvonaya Zorka (Red Star) publishing company followed suit, declaring that the newspaper had failed to pay off its outstanding debts (Narodnaya volya, September 29).
On 19 September Zhodzina City Court left in force the decision of judge Ala Papliouka and refused to rehabilitate Siarhiei Murashka at Zhodzina State Polytechnics. The matter is Murashka has been lawlessly deprived of the right to study there for participation in Charnobyl Way-2005. The defense lawyer Paviel Sapielka, the victim and his parents still haven’t been given the possibility to complain against the court decision because they haven’t received the motivation part of the verdict.
On October 5, UCP Political Council will hold its regular meeting. The main issue on the agenda will be results of the Congress and UCP participation in the implementation of its decisions. As UCP Chair-Deputy Jaroslav Romanchuk pointed out, “We have made a break for several days. This should be enough for analyzing the situation and turning discussion from emotional to pragmatic and constructive levels. No one doubts that our leader will fulfill his obligations before united democratic forces, however attitude of our regional structures and our supporters to results of elections is quite ambiguous.” It is possible that UCP leader declared about his resignation at the Political Council. However, Anatolij Lebedko himself did not comment that, he only pointed out that UCP was the main initiator of unification process and therefore the party must adhere to this strategic course.”
The Constitutional Court of Belarus issued its verdict on the case that was initiated on 5 September on proposal of the Soviet of Ministers of Belarus, who asked the court to change the term of fulfillment of the court decision that was declared on 27 September 2002.
In a meeting Tuesday with President Niyazov, the state secretary of the Russia-Belarus union expressed hope that Turkmenistan would take an active role in the federation that envisages a wide economic swathe in the CIS space.
On October 4 in Strasbourg in the framework of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe another meeting of the Sub-Committee on Belarus was held. Representatives of the OSCE Working group on Belarus Uta Zapf and UN Rapporteur on Belarus Adrian Severin have arrived specially to attend it. President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary
Assembly Rene van der Linden took part in the meeting.
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