Today is the 16th anniversary since the Chernobyl explosion – the most dreadful radioactive disaster in the history of mankind.

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Human rights advocate Oleg Volchek has just returned from the German town of Handorf, where Yuri Zakharenko’s wife, both daughters and grand-son currently live. “I visited Germany upon invitation of Olga Borisovna,” – said Oleg: “Zakharenko’s family entitled me to represent their interests in Belarus and receive information on the criminal procedure.”

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Picketing of the Belarusian Embassy in Brussels is scheduled for today at 11 to 12 a.m., local time. The organizer of he picket is the Belarusian center in Belgium. One of the participants will be the Belarusian political refugee Natallya Brel, who was forced to leave Belarus some time ago, as a criminal action was brought up against her on charges relating to the insult of dignity and honor of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The activist of the United Civil Party Natallya Brel tried to hand over a birthday present - a cake of soap, a rope and a nail - to the Belarusian leader. The picket in Brussels is held in support of the Chernobyl Shlyach that takes place in Minsk today.

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The Moscow youth Union of right-wing forces along with the Russian public movement Anti-fascist youth movement held a picket of solidarity with the Belarusian opposition. Around 30 people gathered in front of the Belarusian embassy. The United Civil Party press-service reports that the participants “expressed their protest to the dictatorship of Lukashenko and fascist methods of suppressing the dissent”. They once again recalled latest events in Belarus and urged both the Belarusian and Russian societies not to ignore such crimes as the dispersal of peaceful protest in Minsk, trial over the opposition journalists in Grodno and assault at the camp of the Kuropaty defenders.

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The court of the Soviet district of Minsk has sentenced to 10 days of arrest another participant of the Protest March “Can’t Live Like That Anymore!” Leanid Sadousky. Leanid Sadousky was accused on charges relating Article 167 part 1 (participation in unsanctioned rallies). Sadousky was arrested by the police on April 19 during dispersal of the rally. However because of a serious injury of his hand, received by the arrest, he was released from the holding-and-dispatch jail after getting a summons.

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The Foreign Ministry of Belarus denied accreditation to the NTV group, which arrived in Minsk from Moscow. The Minsk NTV representation explained the invitation of the additional TV group from Moscow by the forthcoming two large events on April 26. On this day Alexander Lukashenko will traditionally travel to the radioactively contaminated zone, while opposition will hold its traditional rally “Chernobyl Shlyach”. Alexander Kolpakov told the Charter’97 press-center that his group was planning to record Lukashenko’s visit to the Gomel region, while the director of the Belarusian NTV Pavel Selin intended to cover the regular Chernobyl Shlyach, held on April 26 every year. The Belarusian FM declines to comment on the accreditation denial to Kolpakov.

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In its 2001 report The Mechanics of Repression: Presidential Election Update, ARTICLE 19 - the Global campaign for free expression - made 9 key recommendations to the Belarusian authorities, which, if implemented, would enable the media to operate free of direct or indirect pressure by the authorities, and ensure Belarus’ full compliance with its international obligations. The recommendations were, for the most part, ignored by the Belarusian government.

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“The Belarusian regime made another step towards the clampdown on the civil freedoms and human rights violations. Another regime’s victims were the periodic literature editions. In particular, magazines “Polymya”, “Maladost”, “Krynitsa”, “Neman”, weekly “Literatura I Mastatstva” – all these editions have been driven into the state media holding,” – reads the statement of the Belarusian PEN-Center, circulated by it on April 25.

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Belarusian consumers have indebtedness equal to about $50 millions to Russian concern “Gazprom”. It was said by minister of energy Uladzimer Syamashka in his address to the deputies of the “chamber of representatives”. With a reference to a letter of the “Gazprom” administration to the prime minister of Belarus Henadz Navitsky, he said that only $75 mln were paid instead of $118.6 mln for the delivered 3.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It is about 64% of the whole sum. And if the money would not be paid, “Gazprom” is set to reduce supply to Belarus by 25-20%, Syamashka informed.

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