The visit of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to Minsk doesn’t provoke much enthusiasm among the political parties. According to our information, at the meeting between the parties’ leaders they not only worked out common position but also discussed the issue of the representation level at the upcoming meeting with Uta Tsapf.

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On May 22 the Grodno regional court opened hearings on the lawsuit of the regional justice department over the liquidation of the Grodno regional public association “Ratusha”. However, the session lasted but for an hour and afterwards was stopped. This happened shortly after the justice department appealed to the court over the withdrawal of case. But the head of “Ratusha” Alexander Milinkevich had earlier submitted a counter-appeal to the justice department, which must be put for consideration in May 27. And so the judge simply halted the case in order to settle down Milinkevich’s plea first, reports BARCNEWS.

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UN representative in Belarus Nil Bune sent to Alexander Senkevich, the head of the Grodno department of justice an official letter concerning the liquidation of the public association “Ratusha”.

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US ambassador Michael Kozak during his visit to Molodechno (Minsk region) called the issue of electoral proceedings in Belarus to be the most fundamental problem in Belarus’ dialogue with the international community. “Belarusians must decide on their own who should be their president. We are concerned about the electoral procedure and whether Belarusians will be able to freely discuss these issues; about the existence of free press and opposition’s opportunity to express their viewpoints; about people’s right to disagree with the official position and about proper vote count. These are main issues on the agenda of USA and EU,” – said the US diplomat.

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Belarus’ procuracy general has the right to institute criminal proceedings against the Belarusian MPs, despite the diplomatic immunity which they enjoy, said on Wednesday to the journalists the vice-speaker of the “house of representatives” Vladimir Konoplev, commenting on the institution by the procuracy of a criminal lawsuit against “deputy” Sergei Skrebets.

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Independent press wonders whether Alexander Lukashenko will head for Petersburg, where in the end of May Russians will open solemn festivities, commemorating the 300th anniversary of Russia’s “northern capital”. According to the latest data, the heads of 43 countries are expected to visit the event. Most likely, the Belarusian leader will join their company too. However, his press-service doesn’t say anything concrete about his plans at the moment. They say that full clarity will appear not until next week.

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American office of “Amnesty International” starts collecting signatures in support of the incarcerated professor Yuri Bandazhevsky – Belarusian researcher of the world’s renown. “We assume that Bandazhevsky’s case is a challenge to fair justice. It endangers the right to know truth, including the truth about radiation’s affect on our life and scholars’ right to carry out research and publicize its outcomes. So, we demand immediate unconditional liberation of the professor, allowing him to resume his scholarly work in his institute,” – reads the statement of the international human rights watchdog.

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