Warsaw, 6 April 2001 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) deplores the response by the Belarusian authorities to the 25 March 2001 peaceful demonstrations, which were marked by disproportionate use of force by security forces, arrests, and prison sentences or high administrative fines handed down to participants and organizers of the demonstrations.

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"Beginning from April prices on the domestic products must not be raised by more than 0,5% a month," - declared Alexander Lukashenko during his April 6 seminar-meeting with the leaders of local authorities. "The price-growth can`t be beneficial for the population, let alone for the economy," - said he, expressing readiness to sign the decree, prohibiting further price-growth.

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Russia`s long-distance aviation jets, capable of carrying aboard nuclear missiles, land and go airborne in the Belarus airspace in the framework of the CIS aviation training program. According to unverified data, April 5 officials of the Russian long-range aviation visited Minsk and held negotiations with Belarusian Defense Minister lieutenant-general Maltsev.

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Over the last 15 years the total number of drug addicts in Belarus rose by 32,4 times. Meantime, according to the Ministry of Healthcare experts, their real number is estimated as being 10-15 times higher than the official rates.

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Activists of the youth movement ZUBR Aleksei Shydlovsky, Timothy Dranchuk, Ales Apranich and Dmitry Drapochka were released from custody on April 7 upon submission of written pledge to appear at police station at first call. No official charges against them have been announced yet.

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"West and its security services exert political, economic and diplomatic pressure on the Belarusian nation ahead of the forthcoming presidential elections, scheduled for the fall. At present IMF is transferring funds for certain political programs," - said Lukashenko. The source of this absurd information turned out to be former Russian PM Evgeny Primakov, who, as claimed by Lukashenko, informed him about $500mln. allegedly donated by West to uphold alternative candidates at the coming presidential race. If you remember last time Lukashenko publicly spoke of $108 mln., passed over to opposition.

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"We are well aware that Belarus is holding a large-scale campaign on discrediting the non-governmental organizations, actions are undertaken to restrict their activities. Offices of the human rights defenders are subject to illegal police raids and burgled by the unidentified robbers, without any investigation procedures pursuant. The latest drop that filled the cup was the appearance of the Decree#8," - declared prominent Russian human rights defenders Sergei Kovalev - Russian State Duma deputy and chair of the "Memorial" society, Ludmila Alekseeva - president of the International Helsinki Federation and Valentin Geftser - director general of the Institute of human rights. The human rights defenders forwarded their open letter into the "house of representatives", Belarusian Foreign Ministry, president`s Administration and the Department for humanitarian aid.

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"Issuing directives for all companies to provide funds to back up the sowing campaign will receive a negative feedback in Washington. Continuation of this pressure won`t result in anything positive for the Belarusian economy in general, and for the reforms` program in particular," - declared permanent IMF official for Lithuania and Belarus Mark Horton.

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"I will not accede to a single privatization project until the election date, no matter how lucrative it may seem to us," - stated Alexander Lukashenko at the April 6 meeting of the local authorities in Minsk.

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In honor of Lukashenko`s being awarded a Russian order "For Merits Before the Motherland" someone raised a white-red-white national banner in the town of Liozno, having attached it on top of a 30-meter tall electricity pole. One could only guess how the flag got that high, taking into account that the circuit`s voltage equals to 35 thousand watt. There had been added a message to it, signed by the popular Miron guy, reading this: "A good master would never crawl to the East, begging for help…"

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The organizing committee of the "Chernobyl Schlyach-2001" worked out the scenario of the April 26 rally. The action initiators decided not to apply for permission to the Minsk city hall. The crowds will gather on the Svabody square at 5p.m. Right on that spot the clergy will hold public prayer to commemorate the victims of the Chernobyl tragedy. Afterwards, they will go for a march to the Independence square, where the authorities will be handed in a petition. Chernobyl Shlyach will be carried out under slogan "For the Sake of Belarus` Future!".

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"State secretary of Russia-Belarus union" Pavel Borodin, delivered Saturday morning from USA to Switzerland, was charged the same night with "belonging to a criminal gang and money-laundering."

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