The central election commission on September 24 upheld the decision to deny prominent trade union leader Aleksandr Bukhvostov access to the parliamentary ballot.

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The reported September 16 decision by the Belarusian Ministry of Justice to file a lawsuit aimed at closing the Belarus Helsinki Committee is just the latest example of longstanding government persecution of a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to promoting human rights, according to U.S. Ambassador Stephan M. Minikes. The decision also marks yet another refusal by the government of President Aleksandr Lukashenko to uphold its commitments to democracy and human rights, he said. Minikes, the head of the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), addressed the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Austria, September 23, calling on Belarus to live up to its OSCE commitments to facilitate and encourage the activities of NGOs.

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Two new charges were filed against Mikhail Marinich on Thursday. The prominent political and public figure, who has been held in custody on a charge of illegal firearms possession since April 26, was charged with stealing documents that constitute state secret and office equipment under Part 2 of the Criminal Code’s Article 377 and Part 4 of Article 210, respectively, Mr. Marinich’s lawyer, Vera Stremkovskaya, told BelaPAN. In particular, the oppositionist is accused of stealing equipment provided to an association, of which he is chairman, for temporary use.

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The central election commission on September 23 upheld four out of the 15 complaints about registration denial lodged by aspirants who tried to obtain access to the parliamentary ballot in the Brest region.

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The central election commission on September 23 sustained 10 out of the 28 complaints from parliamentary aspirants who sought to be on the ballot in the Gomel region.

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Belarus’s joining the European Union would mean rejection of the Eastern European civilization and ruining of the real sector of economy with its industrial giants, which are geared to the Russian market, told A. Lukashenka today at a meeting with university students and teachers in the city of Brest.

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Aleksandr Lukashenko said on September 23 that the government had closed European Humanities University (EHU) because it had turned out that the school’s main goal was to educate a new Belarusian elite that would make the nation pro-Western. “What is this, a training center for future administrators, elite in the center of Minsk? But what about the rest of Belarusian higher schools, who are they educating, servants for that elite?” said the Belarusian leader while speaking to a gathering of university students in Brest. “We’re not rejecting foreign educational aid or academic exchanges, but we have to draw the line somewhere.”

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The Subcommittee on Human Rights in the European Parliament (EP) on September 23 unveiled a list of 11 nominees for the 2004 Sakharov Prize, which includes, among others, the Belarusian Association of Journalists and Zubr, an opposition youth movement in Belarus.

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