Another session of the International Labor Organization commenced in Geneva. The reason for including into the organization`s daily agenda the issue on violations of trade unions rights in Belarus was the complaint, forwarded to ILO over a year ago. The authors of the statement pointed out state interference in trade unions` rights, limitations of right for striking, enormous complexity of registration procedures and other similar problems.

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Entrepreneurial trade unions of Minsk region forwarded their statement to the chair of the Minsk regional council, demanding that they revise by June 20 the tax rates. Otherwise, they will launch a strike on July 1, which may last up to the moment of presidential elections.

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Vitebsk TV-sets producing manufacture "Vityaz" experiences mass dismissals of employees, reports Radio Svaboda. The campaign hurts the interests of over 400 workers, said trade union chair Vassily Shtefaruk. The reduction in the number of workers is speeding up. It was caused by the introduction of harsh economy regime in all directions, as far as the company suffers from bad deficit of turnover capital.

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After the April increase in the minimum salary the healthcare workers were rid of their extra payments and bonus money. As usual the head of state promised to restore them and "restored".

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Activist of the ZUBR resistance movement Timofei Dranchuk forwarded an appeal to the prosecutor general, urging him to start legal proceedings against the Central court of Minsk judge Natalya Voitsekhovich. On May 25 Voitsekhovich ruled to sentence Dranchuk to 15 days of arrest, although he wasn`t even present in the courtroom.

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Smorgon district procuracy (Grodno region) desires to extend the arrest term, brought against the activist of the Conservative Christian party BPF Viktor Turovets on May 22 this year. On that day Turovets received three days of administrative jail for organizing a May 13 action, on the eve of the Day of national flag and coat of arms.

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Minsk hosted the first ever press-conference of the Interparty center for nominating candidates for the electoral commissions. The press-conference participants declared that for the very first time in the Belarusian history the majority of parties (10 out of the 18 existing at the moment) joined their efforts in order to ensure that Belarusians fully enjoy their legitimate right for democratic, fair and transparent presidential ballot. The only way to achieve that, they say, is to include all representatives of the political parties into the make-up of the electoral commissions of all levels.

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Leader of the "Workers` Self-aide" Sergei Antonchik announced his willingness to engage in the presidential race. Antonchik explained his decision by the necessity to alter the policy of the present-day regime and by his lack of faith in the victory of the five democratic candidates. One of his most distinctive slogans is the refusal to integrate with Russian Federation. In case of ultimate victory Sergei Antonchik pledged to denounce the Treaty on the "union state", along with the results of the plebiscite, held by Alexander Lukashenko long ago.

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Polish president Alexander Kvasnevsky said at the May 4 press-conference in Dniepropetrovsk that the decision to lay a gas-pipe via Poland and Belarus into the Western Europe, thus avoiding Ukraine, hasn`t been ratified yet. Kvasnevsky is convinced that they need to seek ways to satisfy all sides: "Economic aspects must not grow into a political weapon."

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Police of the Minsk subway blamed ZUBR activists, disseminating special issues of “Nasha Svaboda”, for violating art.172/3 of the Administrative Code “Distribution of printed materials, produced in breach of the existing order and having no exit data; the content of which is aimed at undermining state and public order.” Thus, the law-enforcers violated both constitutional provisions and the Law on press.

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The law-enforcers continue to shamelessly violate law. This time the Partizansky district police placed in custody for 16 hours ZUBR movement activists Aleksei Shydlovsky, Timofei Dranchuk, Igor Suld and Irina Tolstik. Moreover, police determined to punish by 15 days arrest Timofei Dranchuk, who got unexpectedly convicted in his absence by the Central Court of Minsk for his part in the Freedom Day rally on March 25.

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Efforts of the official Belarusian delegation of the Foreign Ministry to obtain a prestigious spot of the temporary member with the UN Security Council fail over and over again. This time such an attempt was undertaken by the Foreign Minister Khvostov in San-Hose, which hosts the General Assembly of the Organization of American Countries. Not only did they fail with their fifth attempt to get through to the UN Security Council but were even denied observer’s status in OAC.

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Grodno resident, former chairman of the Union of Poles Tadeush Gavin was sentenced to three days of administrative arrest. On June 4 Tadeush Gavin took part in the picket “Wanna Know the Truth!”, organized by the Grodno affiliate “UCP Youth” in order to draw the public attention to the mass disappearance phenomenon in Belarus.

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During the investigation procedures at the place of the incident, which occurred overnight March 30-31, police discovered that the unidentified terrorists threw two RDG-5 explosives over the embassy fence, reports BelaPAN from the Department for information and public relations of the Interior Ministry.

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Alexander Lukashenko exposed to harsh scrutiny the behavior of the Russian government, which, as claimed by Lukashenko, further leads to the frustration of the union’s economic programs, reports “Interfax”.

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