The number of people, who launched a live chain along Skarina prospect with raised portraits of the repressed politicians, has grown up to 400. The action also attracted wives of the missing oppositionists Svetlana Zavadskaya, Irina Krasovskaya, Ludmila Karpenko and potential candidates for the president Mikhail Chigir, Sergei Kalyakin, Syamon Domash, Mikhail Marinich and Sergei Antonchik. Police so far hasn’t undertaken any actions against the protesting folks. The number of action participants keeps growing.

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An action “Chain of those who care” under the motto “Want to know the truth” is being currently held in the main prospect of Minsk. A chain of approximately 200 persons stretched along the Skarina prospect all the way from Oktybrskaya to the Independence square. The protesters raise portraits of the missing politicians Viktor Gonchar and Yuri Zakharenko, businessman Anatoly Krasovsky and journalist Dmitry Zavadsky, political prisoners Andrei Klimov and Valery Schukin, and also late Anatoly Maisenya and Gennady Karpenko, who died under mysterious circumstances.

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The jury voiced verdicts against ZUBR members. Legal action was opened under art.218/1 of the Criminal code for spray-painting ZUBR graffiti on the walls of the buildings in Kozlova street and Partyzansky district of Minsk. Prosecutor of the district Kienya urged the court to sentence Aleksei Shydlovsky to 2 years of social labor with the enforced deduction of 15% of his income, Koktysh – to 1 year of labor with 15% deduction of money, Alizar and Ermakov – to three months of arrest each. Although the guys’ guilt has never been proven, judge Borisenok considered them guilty of “deliberate damaging state property” and ruled 2 years of social labor for Shydlovsky with 20% salary deduction, Sergei Koktysh – also 2 years of labor but 10% deduction, Anatoly Alizar and Alexander Ermakov – to 100 minimal wages fines.

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Action “Chain of those who care” under the motto “Wanna know the truth!” will be held at 6p.m. in Minsk in Skarina prospect (between Independence and Victory square). Action participants intend to make up a chain along the Skarina prospect sidewalk, raising in hands portraits of disappeared Yuri Zakharenko, Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky and Dmitry Zavadsky, along with the portraits of late Anatoly Maisenya and Gennady Karpenko, who died under mysterious circumstances, and political prisoners Valery Schukin and Andrei Klimov. The event will attract wives and relatives of those who fell pray to the regime’s brutality. Charter’97 press-center will report from the Minsk downtown on the course of the action “Chain of those who care” on-line.

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Belarusian association of journalists collects signatures of their colleagues under the appeal, in which it informs national and international journalist organizations about the new evidence of the government’s crackdown on media. “The authorities now don’t even pretend they comply with the law,” – reads the statement: “Independent media feel this on their skin. Economic, legal and ideological discrimination of non-state media are now added by methods of purely criminal nature.”

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On July 25 wives of the prominent Belarusian politicians who were repressed on political grounds or disappeared – Liudmila Karpenko, Tatsiana Klimova-Leonovich, Irina Krasovskaya and Svetlana Zavadskaya –held a press conference on the results of their visit to Moscow (July 7-9), Paris (July 9-10), Washington (July 17-19).

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Mission of Election Organizers Association in Central and Eastern Europe for long-term international observation over the presidential elections in Belarus prepared data on the results of the mission’s operation in Belarus over July 18-20. Read an extract from the mission’s final resume on our site:

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Public observers, which maintain control over the pre-election situation in Novopolotsk, ring alarm bells over the occurring violations of Electoral legislation there. Almost all of them have to do with the signature collection for Alexander Lukashenko, reports BDG. Meantime, the course of the signature campaign in Novopolotsk manifested that Lukashenko’s popularity is very small in the town. Even using his mighty administrative resource Lukashenko managed to gather only 3315 “signatures” of voters there.

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For the involvement in the “Freedom to Tibet” protest, run July 19 in Minsk during the visit to Minsk by the Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, the member of the ZUBR movement Yaroslav Shestakov was fined by the Central court of Minsk on July 25 20 minimum wages (over $100). Earlier another protester was fined the same amount, while the third dissenter was reprimanded. All picketers were sued for violating art.167/1 of the Administrative code (violation of order of mass assemblies).

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Constructors of the Belarusian state research bureau “Agate”, whose major production is automatic defense systems, developed new sample – artillery complex “Shlem”. In case the testing is successful, the “Agate” plans to launch the serial manufacture of the new model of air-defense weaponry.

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This year the shipment of mineral fertilizers for winter crops leaves much to be desired. In fact it is way worse than in all yester years. A source in the Belarusian government reports that by July 20 they shipped only 9% of the planned potassium (slightly over 11 tons) and only 7% of phosphorous fertilizers (2,7 thousand tons).

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The budget of the minimum living level in Belarus constituted, according to preliminary estimations, around 45 thousand rubles in June prices ($31). Under the General Agreement, reached between the government, employers and trade unionists, the salary of the 1st grade worker should be at least 35% of the minimum requirement or 15,8 thousand rubles. The presently fixed wage is 9% under the one, established by the government, equaling to 14,5 thousand rubles.

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At today’s trial proceedings over four ZUBR activists, caught while spray-painting graffiti (charged under at.218 of the Criminal Code), prosecutor of the Partyzansky district court of Minsk Kienya proposed to sentence Aleksei Shydlovsky to 2 years of social labor with the enforced deduction of 15% of his income, Koktysh – to 1 year of labor with 15% deduction of money, Alizar and Ermakov – to three months of arrest. At the moment the judge ruled a break in the process, after which the final verdict will be voiced.

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Friday, June 15. The forth day. I follow the agreement with the editor to write a diary regularly and to send the records to the editorial office. This morning I have sent a new material. The letters are censored in prison, so they are handed over unsealed. So the members of ‘Politburo” have the opportunity to be familiar with the situation here and inmates’ opinion on the authorities even before they are printed on the pages of the non-governmental press.

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One of the most influential German papers “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” published a long article, highlighting the problem of human abductions in Belarus. The author draws the conclusion that today nobody doubts that a death squad has been operating in Belarus up until recent time. It is allegedly responsible for 30 killings, including prominent politicians Yuri Zakharenko and Viktor Gonchar, businessman Anatoly Krasovsky and journalist Dmitry Zavadsky.

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Mikhail Marinich resigns from the position of the Ambassador of Belarus in Latvia, Estonia and Finland. He informed journalists of his decision on July 25. In his memo addressed to the Minister of the Foreign Affairs he said: “I did not find it possible to tolerate the system of dictatorship, economy degradation, which led population to impoverishment; abduction of politicians, constant violation of civil rights and freedoms, international isolation of Belarus, so I entered electoral race for the presidential post. Unfortunately, the course of the campaign shows that the elections cannot be fair and transparent, while the authorities, by all methods try to get rid of undesirable candidates. In spite of hard pressure I find it essential to continue the active political life for the sake of democratic changes in Belarus. I leave my position and ask to receive my resignation.”

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Well-informed people give credit for the appointment of Vladimir Goncharik as the unique candidate from the “five” to this particular person – leader of the “For New Belarus” movement Vasily Leonov.

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Legal action against Sergei Vinnikov, son of the former National Bank president Tamara Vinnikova, who’s now in self-exile in Britain, was handed over to the Central district court of Minsk. According to the court’s chair, the process will get started no sooner than in two weeks time – approximately in the first decade of August.

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Yesterday July 25 the “Slav Bazaar” festival was visited by Vladimir Putin, Leonid Kuchma and Alexander Lukashenko. Vitebsk ZUBRs thoroughly prepared to the action – the whole city was spray-painted with questions about the whereabouts of the missing people and covered with stickers.

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Ahead of the coming to Vitebsk of state leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, police apprehended there nine Youth Front activists. YF press-service reports that the young men were grabbed by the law-enforcers right in the street, not far from the organization’s headquarters. The activists were marching in the direction of an amphitheatre, where the “Slav Bazaar” was to take place. They ran no actions on their way, nor plotted any.

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