Independent observers noted multiple abuses in Sunday’s parliamentary by-election in Grodno, slamming the vote as neither free nor democratic. The election was won by Sergei Maskevich, rector of Grodno State University, who reportedly gained 65.33 percent of the vote. Two opposition contenders, Sergei Antusevich of the Belarusian Popular Front and ex-MP Valery Frolov, trailed far behind with 14.22 and 12.4 percent, respectively.
On the 18th of March the Amnesty International student group Bonn organised a demonstration in front of the belarussian embassy to bring about the release of the peaceful political prisoner Mikhail Marinich. More than 15 members of Amnesty International formed a human chain in front of the embassy distributing information leaflets and holding placards proclaiming “Freedom to Marinich”.
A huger strike of an entrepreneur from Vaukavysk Mikola Autukhovich lasts for the seventh day. On March 19 eight persons joined the hunger strike. Soon several dozens more are to join the protest.
On March 20 in Hrodna policemen tried to detain a driver of acting Polish Ambassador to Belarus. The worker of diplomatic mission and the diplomat have driven up to the building of October police department of Hrodna to meet the deputy chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus J?zef Porzeski, who had spent 10 days in the remand prison. He served an administrative arrest for petty hooliganism. Policemen without raising any claims had made an effort to pull the driver out of the car; however he produced his ID and declared that Vienna convention was violated by policemen. The head of the police department of October district had not stopped the attempts to detain the worker of the Embassy. However, it had not been done, and the car left the site, taking J. Porzeski with them. Journalists witnessed the incident.
An incident took place during the action on Oktyabrskaya square in Minsk. Two young people (one of them was drunk) were walking along the people keeping portraits of political prisoners. Than they torn away portrait of Mihail Marinich of hands of the girl who was standing the last in a line. Participants of the action detained the hooligans and tried to pass them to police. But the policemen headed by colonel Gyrel let the hooligans go on unrevealed reasons. Though hooligans were threatening participants of the action, saying that they were skin-heads, that big quantity of their friends will arrive and “fix everything”.
Actions of support of political prisoners continue in the center of Minsk for eight days already. Dureing the weekend dozens of people were coming to Octyabrskaya square of Minsk with portraits of Mihail Marinich, Valery Levaneuski, Aliaksandr Vasilieu and Anatoli Shumchanka. Activists of “Zubr”, council of civil initiatives “Free Belarus!”, United civil party took paet in the action.
Recently leaflets announcing a protest action called “Revolution” in Minsk are actively disseminated in the capital of Belarus. Minsk dwellers are called to come on March 25 to October Square at 3 p.m. It is planned that participants of the meeting are to demand Lukashenka’s resignation and annulment of referendum results that cancelled two-term limit for a president.
When on the 25th of November last year at 3 a.m. I found out that in the border place named Repki “Donetsk gang” threw my friends out of the train into the freezing night almost naked, handcuffed them, broke the arm of one of them, Dima Bondarenka, and took them to prison I started to call those who could help to free “the Repki four”.
A delegation of Belarusian opposition politicians met with US lawmakers and officials during their six-day visit to Washington. The delegation included Anatoly Lebedko, leader of the United Civic Party (UCP); Sergei Kalyakin, leader of the Belarusian Party of Communists; social democratic politician Nikolai Statkevich; Pavel Severinets, coordinator of the organizing committee for the foundation of the Christian Democratic Party; deputy chairperson of the United Civl Party Lyudmila Gryaznova.The politicians’ meeting with US Senator John McCain focused on jailed politician Mikhail Marinich’s health scare and the controversial charge brought against Anatoly Shumchenko, leader of market vendors’ association, the UCP press office reported.
Sergei Maskevich, rector of Grodno State University, won a seat in the House of Representatives in Sunday’s disputed vote in Grodno. The central election commission announced early on Monday that the government-backed candidate garnered 65.33 percent of the vote, well ahead of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF)’s Sergei Antusevich and ex-MP Valery Frolov who gained 14.22 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively.
Police detained three Polish journalists in Grodno on Sunday evening. They covered the repeated parliamentary election that is held in this border Belarussian city. Journalists represent the weekly Newsweek and the television network Polsat.
The head of the European Parliament (EP)’s delegation for relations with Belarus expressed satisfaction with the results of a workshop addressing forms of the European Union (EU)’s assistance to Belarusian civil society. Organized by the European Commission with support from the Lithuanian foreign ministry, the March 17-18 conference was held in Vilnius with the attendance of representatives of Belarusian NGOs and the heads of Minsk-based EU diplomatic missions. As Bogdan Klich, head of the EP’s delegation, told BelaPAN, the organizers familiarized the gathering with a draft action plan to support democracy in Belarus drawn up by the EP delegation and submitted for consideration to the EU foreign policy chiefs earlier this month.
Reporters Without Borders condemned a "new press freedom violation" by the government of Belarus after state firm Beltelekom that owns the monopoly Internet access provider Belpak, shut down the Grodnensky Forum (www.forum.grodno.by), because it was seen as too subversive.
Lev Pimenov of the Committee for State Security (KGB) was reelected chairman of the Belarusian Basketball Federation (BBF) on March 18. Colonel Pimenov’s candidature was approved by a margin of 45 to zero with one abstention. The abstained person was Colonel Pimenov himself.
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