Last political official of the OSCE Advisory-Monitoring Group left Minsk – first secretary of mission Megan Fitzgerald – over the expiration of her entry visa and diplomatic accreditation.

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Alexander Lukashenko is an eloquent orator. He communicates with TV audience in a simple and comprehensible way. Sometimes his grammar isn’t perfect, but he always speaks emotionally. In other words, he never funks before TV cameras. On Monday he delivered another of his famous speeches in NTV air.

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Belarus’ accession to Russia is the most convenient integration model. Such a viewpoint, according to the SOYUZ-INFO, was expressed during the yesterday’s meeting with journalists by the former head of the presidential administration, co-chairman of the Russian-Belarusian fund “Social-economic partnership” Leonid Sinitsin. At the same time the man noted that two other variants, including the EU type, would be of absolutely no effect.

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On September 11 the court of the Pervomaisky district of Minsk opened legal action against the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Rabochy” Viktor Ivashkevich. Judge Vladimir Kobyshev immediately declared that the trial proceedings will be strictly confidential, motivating his decision by his aspiration to “avoid possible complications”, as well as by the fact that some of the materials touch upon president’s private life.

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15 days of administrative arrest were ruled by the Minsk Central district court judge Tatiana Pavluchuk against the Young Front’t member Dmitry Dashkevich. The man is charged with participation in an unsanctioned picket at the gates of the Russian embassy on September 8.

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Upon the invitation of the Dutch affiliate of the influential human rights organization “Amnesty International” wives of the abducted businessman Anatoly Krasovsky and cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky undertook a journey to Netherlands on September 3-8. Irina Krasovskaya shares her impressions from the trip:

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There must be a single trade union in the country, said during his working visit to Grodno chairman of the Federation of trade unions of Belarus Leonid Kozik. According to him, the trade unions must restore their influence on the employers and authorities and return the right of legislative initiative. Close contacts with the government is a way to solve the occurring problems.

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A festive assembly in honor of the 125th anniversary of the late Felix Dzerjinsky was held on September 11 in Minsk. Belarusian KGB agents commemorated their notorious predecessor by laying flowers at his monument opposite the KGB central headquarters.

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The Russian public movement “For human rights” addressed the Belarusian parliamentarians with a request to turn down the new draft law “On the freedom of faith and religious organizations”. In an open address of the human rights organization to the “national assembly” of Belarus, disseminated on September 10, it is written that the draft law “significantly restricts freedom of faith for the believers of all denominations – one of the fundamental human freedoms, putting the church life under humiliating state control”.

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Belarusians from now on will be paying income taxes from sums, allocated for the treatment in the commercial medical institutions. Such a measure is envisaged by the decree “On levying income taxes from individuals”, signed by Alexander Lukashenko. Taxes will be levied from sums, paid out to the medical institutions or transferred to their accounts for the hospital treatment. The decree also touches upon legal entities. It will come into effect ten days after the signing.

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“Baltika” brewery partially yielded to the government’s proposals on the draft investment project over the privatization of the local “Krynitsa” beer company. According to the president of the company Taimuraz Bolloev, certain demands, dealing in particular with the transfer of a part of “Baltika’s” assets on the country’s territory, are fine with them. However, such demands as, for instance, funding the ice palace construction, have been turned down, reports “Interfax”.

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