On December at 2p.m. the court of the Central district of Minsk will host hearings on the lawsuit of the United Civil Party chair Anatoly Lebedko to the KGB of Belarus. The leader of UCP intends to appeal in court against the official warning, issued to him on November 5 this year.

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One year ago, on the KGB day eve, activist of the unregistered youth movement ZUBR Andrei Zaitsev committed a suicide. In his appeal to the Belarusian Helsinki Committee minutes before his death Andrei wrote that a KGB agent was recruiting him as a secret informer. Over the past year procuracy failed to unearth the true causes of Andrei Zaitsev’s death.

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Early in the morning on December 20 a minivan left Minsk, carrying on board human rights defenders with the flowers and gifts for Yuri Zakharenko’s mother Uliana Grigorievna, along with Charter’97 awards to the convicted journalists Nikolai Markevich and Pavel Mozheiko.

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Overnight December 22-23 calls “HE MUST GO!” appeared on the fences of Gomel. Apart from that, the regional center witnessed the wide distribution of newspapers and flyers. Over the past days the activists fully covered several more streets. Moreover, 2000 newspapers and flyers were disseminated near Volotov and the 17th Gomel residential area. Local ZUBRs are getting more positive feedback from people, who read their newspapers. People contact them through the number of their pager, published in newspaper, not only in order to learn more about the movement, but also to become its full member.

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Famous Belarusian writer Vasil Bykov received a residence permit in the Czech Republic, reports Prague press. Over the recent years the writer had to live in Germany. He departed his home country a few years ago from fear of persecution for his active criticism of Lukashenko’s regime, as a result of which he constantly came under fire from the state.

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December 22 saw the start of the nomination procedure of candidates for the deputies into the local councils. The deadline for the nomination is January 20.

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IA “REGNUM” was told in the press-center of the Russian space troops that they launched in operation a special radiolocation detection system “Volga”, erected near the town of Baranovichi (Belarus). The station is designed to detect ballistic missiles and objects in outer space. A concomitant decision was passed on December 20, 2002 in course of the work at the afore-mentioned object of the commission from space troops, headed by the commander, general-colonel Anatoly Perminov.

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Auction on selling the state shares of the open joint stock companies, conducted by the Ministry of economy of Belarus on December 19, ended fruitlessly, BelaPAN was told in the Ministry of economy. Only two applications have been submitted on the open joint stocks – “Ushachi” and “Mogilevgasstroi”.

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Criminal lawsuit was instituted against the head of the collective farm “Kopatkevichi” of the Petrikovsky district of Gomel region. The case was initiated under article 237/2 of the Criminal code of Belarus – “wheedling a credit or subsidies”.

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A high-ranking official from the Volkovysk district council was captured red-handed when getting a bribe in his own office. $300 was given to him, as states the official document, for a favorable solution of the problem on the manufacture under the most advanced scheme and further installation in the town of a few trade kiosks and stores.

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