Trial over the prominent human rights defender and journalist Valery Schukin will be held on August 25 in the Polotsk town court. The administrative case against him was instituted by the Polotsk transportation court for “petty hooliganism”. His guilt all came down to this: overnight August 1-2 Schukin stayed at the railway station’s building. As we already reported, on July 29 the man was against his will cast out of his apartment in the local university dorm by the authorities, after which he had to sleep “under open sky” as homeless.

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On September 19, on the International Day of the Journalistic Solidarity the public association “The Belarusian Association of Journalists” intends to go for an action in Minsk – “The Day of Closed Doors”. Within the action’s framework they plan to exhibit Belarusian periodicals, which had to halt publication, organize round-table on media problems etcetera. BelaPAN was told in the BAJ press-service that the details of the event remain uncertain for now: the scenario is still being elaborated.

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The Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma appointed Petr Shapovalo plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine in the Republic of Belarus, reports the official site of the Ukrainian presidential administration.

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The public association “Legal aid to the population” spread its appeal, pleading with the country’s public organizations and citizens to contact the Justice Minister Viktor Golovanov with a request to withdraw his claim on the liquidation of the human rights watchdog organization.

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On August 19, 2003 Belarus will be visited by the delegation, representing the Universal Federation of Trade Unions of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Syrian trade unions will be represented in Belarus by the organization’s chair Mohammed Shaban Azus and members of the organization’s executive committee – Faiz Bashara and Huda al Muleihi. The delegation will stay in Belarus until August 26, 2003.

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The agreement, stipulating the suspension of the construction of a stadium at the ancient Jewish cemetery in Grodno, was signed on Monday by the Grodno region governor Vladimir Savchenko and president of the Jewish religious association in Belarus Yuri Dorn.

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Gomel regional procuracy instituted a number of lawsuits on the matters of bribery, allegedly committed by certain professors of the Gomel State University, named after Fransisk Skarina. Six employees of the afore-mentioned University got apprehended by the police. Radio Svaboda reports that these include first assistant rector of University Alexander Karamzin, dean of the biological department Vasily Tolkachev and legal counselor Mikhail Mizhevich.

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