Today the leader of he Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada) Mikalay Statkevich is invited to the meeting of the precinct election commission of Kalinowsky precinct number 108 of Minsk (K.Chorny Lane, 5), where the question of canceling his registration as a candidate of the Chamber of representatives is to be considered, the press service of the party informs.

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The sanctions named in the Belarus Democracy Act passed by the U.S. Congress are not mandatory, Washington`s ambassador to Belarus George Krol said in Minsk on Wednesday. He said the Democracy Act and the suggested trade and economic sanctions represent the opinion of Congress. In this case, Congress is expressing its opinion to the executive power branch, but the sanctions are not mandatory for the American government, he said.

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The Belarusian Center in Antwerp and representatives of the European coalition “Free Belarus” in Belgium are organizing a rally on October 17 to protest against striking the current two-term limit from the Belarusian Constitution to allow Lukashenka to ballot for limitless number of times. The rally which was sanctioned by the authorities of Brussels, is to take place in the center of the city as a procession from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on October 17. On October 16 in Kyiv representatives of the “Ukrainian Patriotic Youth” together with Belarusian “Young Front” activists are to picket the Belarusian Embassy wit ha slogan “Say NO to Lukashenka!”. The protest, according to organizers, is to attract attention of local and international community to the totalitarial methods of Lukashenka’s rule. Protest rallies are to also planned in other European capitals: in Warsaw, Stockholm, Prague and so on. Their organizers are associations of Belarusian emigrants as a sign of solidarity with the Belarusian democratic forces.

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We continue to discuss the sense and possible consequences of the Belarus Democracy Act, which was passed by the US Congress. What are the probabilities that the United Europe would support the American policy towards the official Minsk? Radio Svaboda addressed with this question a worker of the American research center “Heritage Foundation”, Ariel Cohen.

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The press center of the Charter’97 continue to receive evidence of massive violations of the law during the early voting in the parliamentary elections and referendum. Every day we receive emails of students and workers of different institutions, who inform about the limitless lawlessness which takes place in the polling stations. Here are some of them:

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In special detention center in Akrestsin Street three political prisoners are held: the deputy of the 12th Supreme Soviet Syarhei Antonchyk, activist of the youth movement “Zubr” Mikita Sasim, and member of the United Civil Party Andrey Kozel. Two of them are to vote on October 17 in the special detention center.

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Alyaksandar Lukashenka is not going to allow the observers from the USA enter Belarus for monitoring the parliamentary elections and the referendum. He told about it on Wednesday at a press-conference organized for journalists of Russian provincial media. Speaking about American observers, who are set to come to Belarus to observe parliamentary elections, he told that “We won’t let them into the country if they won’t let us observe the elections in the USA”. As Lukashenka explained, “recently it was told that the USA are going to prohibit entry for our observers at the imminent elections in the USA”. “I don’t think that they would pass this decision, but if they would behave like this, we are to make an adequate answer,” he said. According to Lukashenka, about 50 Americans are to come to Belarus.

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The printing-house “Belarusian printing House” has published a special issue of the newspaper of the presidential administration “Sovetskaya Byelorussia” under a slogan “Say Yes to your President!” The issue is dated by October 14. The star of this issue is Alyaksandar Lukashenka. At numerous pictures he is shown in the uniform of a soldier, a football player, in a field with high corn and with a schoolgirl in his arms. ON the front page of the newspaper an address of Lukashenka himself it placed, with a call upon the voters to vote for him at the referendum. The newspaper claim the success in economic, sport and cultural life of the country within the years of Lukashenka’s rule, it is underlined that people in Belarus “do not suffer from hunger, and human rights are not violated”. According to the information of the leader of the Party of Communists of Belarus, Syarhei Kalyakin, the real circulation of the special issue of the newspaper is 3 million 200 thousand copies, which are to be distributed for free though organizations of the Ministry of Communications all through the country.

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Polish TV reporter Agnieszka Romaszewska and her film crew came to Belarus to cover the evens related to elections and referendum. At night at the Polish-Belarusian border in Brest they were met by consul. They were heading for Minsk, to receive accreditation. The documents for that had been sent to Belarusian Foreign Ministry earlier. But on their way they visited the town of Baranavichy. In Baranavichy they had a conversation with candidate of the United Civil Party Syarhei Andruschanka, as well as with activists of the human rights center “Viasna”, and some other local democratic activists.

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Belarusian opposition leaders have approved of newly suggested method of countering possible ballot-rigging during Sunday`s referendum on lifting the constitutional term limit on the presidency. The method, which envisages tearing ballots apart and keeping the part with official signatures for the opposition, would hardly be helpful in preventing frauds on a large scale, but it would make life harder for offenders, Anatoly Lebedko, leader of United Civic Party, told reporters on Wednesday.

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A district election commission in Minsk on Wednesday issued a warning to Aleksei Yanukevich, deputy leader of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), for allegedly violating campaigning rules. Mr. Yanukevich was accused of distributing campaign ads, printed using his personal funds, before candidates were officially allowed to do so.

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Police officers on Wednesday searched the apartment in the outskirts of Minsk used by Ivan Antashkevich, a parliamentary candidate fielded by the United Civic Party (UCP), as his campaign office.

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“The Belarus Democracy Act” is not a form of pressure on the country, but a means to demonstrate support to those who want democratic changes in Belarus. This statement was made by Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky during a teleconference bridge with the representatives of American foreign political department, organized by the US Embassy in Minsk on October 13. “The objective of the Act is to support striving for changes, which could improve the life of the country and its relations with other countries,” told Paula J. Dobriansky. She underlined that the USA are ready to support those, who “despite of the attempts of persecution persist in defending the point of view to different from the position upheld by the Belarusian government”.

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Precinct commission of the 150 district of Minsk has cancelled registration of the United Civil Party activist Alyaksandr Tsynkevich and human rights activist Aleh Volchek. The both candidates were accused of dissemination of materials insulting the highest authorities of Belarus.

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The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday notified the Minsk-based observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) that it would issue visas to all ODIHR monitors, the ODIHR press office reported.

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The election commission of the number 56 district in Lida, Grodno region, has removed a member of the United Civic Party (UCP) from the parliamentary ballot.

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On September 30, there came to the end a suit regarding Alena Raubieckaya, editor-in-chief of the "Birzha Informacyi" newspaper. In the city on the Nioman river there took place a recurrent suit. In difference from the other hearings of the kind, this time the convicted was neither exiled, nor sent to prison. Also, there were held no arrests of a newspaper print-run. This time, the Lieninski City District Court of Hrodna confined itself with a 1.5 million fine, imposed on Alena Raubieckaya, a calm lady, an experienced journalist, and the head of a respected periodical edition in the region.

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Minsk has dismissed as "political" the Venice Commission`s statement that Aleksandr Lukashenko`s referendum proposal to lift the constitutional term limit on the presidency is unlawful.

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Belarus` pro-democracy forces will run a joint press center at the office of the Belarusian Popular Front at 8 Varvasheni Street on October 17 and 18, Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the United Civic Party, told reporters in Minsk on Wednesday.

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