“There are several versions of Latypov’s resignation. It could be a transfer to another work, for instance, to the position of the KGB chairman. It is possible that it is a reverberation of the episode with the KGB chairman Yeryn (Erin), and Moscow constituent of the Administration starts to be squeezed out from the Belarusian “vertical of power”. Latypov was not an independent figure. It is no secret that that he and Yeryn were people close to the Kremlin. It is also possible that the resignation of the head of presidential administration has taken place on the threshold of some factor in Belarusian politics. For instance, the course of estrangement with Russia and attempts of rapprochement to the West. But it is impossible, as serious changes in internal policy are needed, and in its turn it can lead to the regime’s downfall. Another variant could be that Latypov has understood at last, where he had got into. But I hardly believe this variant. If he had not understood that since 1996, I am afraid he would not understand it ever. Though Latypov is a professional, no matter what attitude towards him we have, he should have been understanding that the actions of the authorities are crazy, and how they damage the country,” in this way the famous film director, documentarian Yuri Khaschavatski, author of the film “Usual President” commented on the resignation of Ural Latypov, presidential Administration head.

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Ukraine`s Supreme Court said Monday it would not issue its verdict on the disputed presidential election that day, without specifiying when the decision would be taken. "The court gives Yanukovich`s side up to 10:00 am Tuesday to study the documents concerning this affair," judge Anatoly Yarema said. The supreme court Monday began reviewing a request by opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko to annul results from the November 21 election that handed victory to the pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, on grounds of alleged ballot fraud.

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Alyaksandr Lukashneka by his decree relieved Ural Latypov of his position of the head of Administration of the President of Belarus following his resignation. The BELTA was informed about it by the press service of the head of state. The details of the resignation of Ural Latypov are to be found out.

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By order of Information Minister Uladzimir Rusakevich issuing of the non-state newspaper “Birhza Infarmatsyji” from Hrodna had been suspended. The reason for that was decision of the court of Lenin district of Hrodna to fine the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Alena Rawbetskaya for the article “Treason in the Name of Nation”. The court decided that this article insults honor and dignity of president Lukashenka.

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We continue to publish the evidence of the Belarusians, who were detained by Ukrainian officers on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border on the night of November 24th/25th. The Zubr resistance movement coordinator Uladzimer Kobets, the coordinator of the civil initiative Charter’97 Zmitser Bandarenka, one of the leaders of the European coalition “Free Belarus” Zmitser Barodka and the Zubr press secretary Alyaksandr Atroschankaw have spent about 18 hours under arrest. Zubr coordinator Uladzimer Kobets gives some details of the incident.

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Ukraine`s top court has met to tackle an election stalemate threatening to split the country but says it can take days to rule on the week-old crisis that has brought vast crowds of rival demonstrators onto the streets.

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A monitor in Ukraine`s contested elections said Friday she personally witnessed electoral fraud and alleged she was offered 1,000 dollars (753 euros) to keep quiet about it. Tatiana Reviaki, a civil rights activist, said she was posted as an observer at a polling station in an eastern Ukraine region largely loyal to the pro-Moscow candidate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

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The Ukriane`s top court has begun looking into opposition party allegations of election fraud after a week of protests. The Supreme Court is expected to take days to deliver its verdict on the Nov 21 presidential poll. The parliament has already said it is dissatisfied with the result, which saw the pro-Moscow and former prime minister Viktor Yanukovich win by three percentage points. Supporters of the west-leaning opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko allege mass fraud.

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Some 10 million Belarusians are living in the centre of Europe, but for more than a decade, President Lukashenko has kept them increasingly separated from Europe – separated not only from their European neighbours, but also separated from the common European values and standards of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

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Some 100 Belarusian opposition activists, mainly youths, staged a demonstration in Minsk on the evening of November 27 to display support for the Ukrainians who voted for Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine`s presidential election.

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Belarus` opposition groups plan to stage a joint demonstration in Minsk on December 10, the international Human Rights Day, to commemorate the disappeared opponents of Aleksandr Lukashenko`s government.

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The Prosecutor’s Office of Minsk’s Leninsky district refused to initiate criminal proceeding into alleged police beating of Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the United Civic Party, during one of October’s protests sparked by disputed parliamentary elections and national referendum.

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Conditions have worsened considerably for the democratic opposition in Belarus, since last month`s parliamentary elections when a national presidential referendum was adopted to remove any term limits on the current president Aleksandr Lukashenka, according to a noted Belarusian journalist.

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Minsk, 28 November. Activists of Belarus` nationalist Conservative Christian Party (CCP) on November 27 marked the 84th anniversary of the Slutsk anti-Bolshevik uprising by touring the places where the main events of the uprising occurred in the fall of 1920.

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Yulia Timoshenko, one of Yushchenko`s closest attendants, held a speech on the Independence Square in Kiev, warning the President Leonid Kuchma that the opposition would block his movements unless he fired Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

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The most striking, and the most potentially significant, public rebellion against President Leonid D. Kuchma and his chosen successor in last Sunday`s contested election began silently. Last Thursday morning, Natalia Dimitruk, an interpreter for the deaf on the Ukraine`s official state UT-1 television, disregarded the anchor`s report on Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich`s "victory" and, in her small inset on the screen, began to sign something else altogether. "The results announced by the Central Electoral Commission are rigged," she said in the sign language used in the former Soviet states. "Do not believe them."

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Ukraine`s top court convenes on Monday to try to end an election crisis that threatens to break up the country and is straining relations between Russia and the West. Legal experts said the case is so complex that the Supreme Court is unlikely to be able to satisfy either side in the bitter dispute about whether Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich won the presidential election through mass fraud. Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko wants his rival`s victory in the Nov. 21 run-off be annulled due to fraud and a new vote on Dec. 12.

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A major eastern province of Ukraine called a referendum on autonomy yesterday in response to the impasse over a disputed presidential election, and the opposition demanded that President Leonid Kuchma fire his prime minister, the official winner.

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Several countries in the former Soviet bloc have lined up behind Russia in endorsing the disputed result of Ukraine`s presidential election. A notable exception is Georgia, which on the first anniversary of its own "rose" revolution sees itself as having led where Ukraine now follows. Moldova has also openly broken ranks by criticising the conduct of the polls.

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Now to the repression of teachers in Belarus. Another decree has come from President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, according to which teachers can be stripped of their posts and degrees for behaviour not consistent with their professional activity. There have not been any debauchees or murderers among academics in the whole of the country`s history, but there are enough who take part in opposition activities. Here reporting is Yelena Slav.

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A drug trafficking channel has been closed off in Homel. Three local residents have been detained in a hotel room during an attempted sale of cocaine. The detainees - a woman and two men - were unemployed. One of them has a previous criminal record. They tried to sell 0.5 kg of cocaine for 30,000 euros. The drug originated from the Netherlands. An expert assessment showed that the cocaine was of a very high quality and its wholesale price stands at about 60 euros a gram.

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The Belarusian Interior Ministry has confirmed that it has detained four people suspected by the Russian police of involvement in the murder of American journalist and Russian Forbes editor-in-chief Paul Klebnikov. The ministry said two suspects are ethnic Chechen citizens of Russia - Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev. The Almaz special task unit took part in the detention. The suspects were taken to the Belarusian State Security Committee`s prison.

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A prime suspect in the murder of Paul Klebnikov, the American editor of Forbes magazine’s Russia edition, has been detained in Minsk, according to unconfirmed reports. The suspect, identified as Kazbek, a common name in Caucasian republics, has been busted during a special operation conducted by the Belarusian interior ministry’s organized crime unit and Committee for State Security (KGB), unofficial sources said.

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