There are nor there will be any secret zones in the society, stressed Alexander Lukashenko, opening the September 25 session, dedicated to the findings, received through a mass examination of courts, procuracy and justice bodies. “In compliance with the Constitution the head of state, being a guarantor of human rights, is maintaining control over all branches of power and coordinates their activities,” – said Lukashenko, emphasizing that while carrying out his constitutional duties he mostly controlled the executive and legislative branches of power. Now, concludes he, it is high time he started checking the judiciary, which is facing serious problems, especially in the personnel sphere.

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Organizers of the People’s March “For better life!” intend to support the initiative of the Belarusian political parties about the implementation in this November of the common action of protest, said during today’s press-conference human rights defender Ludmila Gryaznova, diplomat Andrei Sannikov, filmmaker Yuri Khaschevatsky and journalist Valery Schukin. In view of that, the People’s March, originally scheduled for autumn, will be put off.

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Representatives of Belarusian opposition parties Anatoly Lebedko, Yaroslav Romanchuk (UCP) and Valentina Polevikova (OSD) met on September 25 with the CoE Secretary General Walter Shwimmer. During their conversation Mr.Shwimmer noted that for a second session in a row he only agrees to meet with opposition delegation, denying audience to the official representatives, as far as there’s been no progress in the situation development in Belarus so far. CoE Secretary critically assessed the conduct of the ruling Belarusian regime in the aftermath of the presidential elections.

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Heads of the United Civil Party Anatoly Lebedko and Yaroslav Romanchuk engaged in the session of the Committee for legal affairs and human rights of the CoE Parliamentary Assembly. The main outcome of this session, deems Lebedko, is the formation of a special Sub-Commission on Lukashenko’s missing opponents. Sergei Kovalev of Russia was elected head of Commission, while British deputy McNamara – his deputy.

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UCP leader and his deputy met on September 24 with the head of the people’s faction of PACE Mr.Van der Linden. The sides discussed the support by one of the most influential PACE factions of the resolution on Belarus, as well as the interior political situation in Belarus. Van der Linden raised grave concerns over the situation development in Belarus. According to him, the faction will actively support the resolution, due to be passed during the PACE session.

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Famous expert in politics, professor of the Stanford University Michael McFaul published his article in the “Washington Post”, calling on Bush’s Administration to pay close attention to the events, unfolding in the Eastern Europe – region, which presents strategic interest for the States. “Washington’s focus of attention is now turned to the problem of overthrowing the Iraqi government,” – writes the author: “At the same time Bush rests upon the historic precedent: end of the Cold War. The change of the Soviet regime has cardinally strengthened the US security. Given Saddam now possessed the Soviet military arsenal, America would be in great danger. For three decades we’ve been living tracking thoroughly all Kremlin’s moods. Russia’s democratization and the developing market orientation rid us of the necessity to do it again. Analogous situation can be expected from the replacement of regime in Baghdad. However, one cannot expect that the East European democracies will develop in a natural way. Thinking so would be a serious mistake.”

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On September 24 there opened in the Minsk Literature Palace an extra-curricular congress of the Union of Belarusian writers. During the opening ceremony the oldest popular Belarusian writer Yanka Bryl noted that “his generation of writers also experienced trials by versatile dictatorships, different temptations by wealth. Today’s writers also go through great testing of their ability to stand evil and survive”. Now former chairman of the Union of writers Olga Ipatova underscored in her speech that “realities show that the democratic writer cannot cooperate with the present-day undemocratic authorities”.

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World Bank’s experts composed a rating “Index of economic freedom”, in which Russia is listed 131st and Belarus – 148th. Other former USSR republics are listed in the following consequence: Estonia – 4, Lithuania – 29, Latvia – 38, Armenia – 45, Moldova – 105, Georgia – 108, Azerbaijan – 118, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – 125.

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The Ministry of foreign affairs of Belarus was mailed a letter from Moscow, in which the Russian authorities protest the actions, stepped up by the official Minsk in the beer market. The letter of protest emanated from the Ministry of economic development of Russia, which, in its turn, was addressed by the Union of Russian brewers.

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