The justice ministry’s charges against the Independent Institute of Social Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS) are absurd, Oleg Manayev, head of the Minsk-based organization, said on Friday as the Supreme Court was preparing to announce its ruling in a controversial closure case.

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If Aleksandr Lukashenko persists in his reluctance to hand over power to a new political leader, a democratic revolution in Belarus will be inevitable, Aleksandr Voitovich, former chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, said on April 15.

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“Zubr” activists action on occasion of the 19th anniversary of deseaster on Chernobyl Nuclear power station at Mogilev state university. The activists of movement gave to the students the leaflets, in which attention was paid to problems, caused by Chernobyl deseaster. Propagation was passed on the profound change, action enveloped a sufficiently large quantity of students. There was no one detention during the istribution the leaflets.

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The administrative commission of Navapolatsk City Executive Committee considered the administrative case against the member of Belarusian People’s Front Aliaksei Trubkin. On 25 March he came to the rector’s office of Polastsk State University in orde4r to congratulate the university workers and students with the Freedom Day. He brought fly-sheets that explained the meaning of this day for Belarusian history. D. Lazouski, rector of the university, asked the guy to wait a bit and called for the university guards and the police. The police drew a report for violation of part 3 of Article 172 of the Code of Administrative Violations (distribution of printed editions without issue data).

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A resolution denouncing Belarus for human rights abuse narrowly outpolled at the United Nations human rights commission yesterday. Following read the full text:

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The United States offers this resolution that we are co-tabling with the European Union in response to the deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus. Since last year, senior officials of the Government of Belarus have been implicated in the enforced disappearance and-or summary execution of three political opponents of the incumbent authorities in 1999 and of a journalist in 2000.

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The United Nations` top human rights body pressed Belarus on Thursday to agree to a visit from a special U.N. investigator to report on numerous allegations of violations.

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Over the past 17 months, President Vladimir Putin has suffered a series of setbacks on the foreign policy front, in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan. As a consequence, he has little reason to believe that the CIS is a viable entity capable of enhancing Moscow`s capacity to dominate events in the space formerly occupied by the Soviet Union.

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NATO`s enlargement was "a mistaken decision, which has aggravated the situation" in Europe, but Belarus interacts with the North Atlantic alliance, and this interaction "is not going badly," Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov said on Thursday. Martynov said he meant "interaction in regards to the security of borders, prevention of natural calamities, and issues surrounding the compatibility of our military doctrines and military structures."

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Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov holds that the political relations between Belarus and the European Union (EU) are in a difficult status, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Thursday.

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A resolution denouncing Belarus for human rights abuse narrowly outpolled at the United Nations human rights commission yesterday. The resolution expresses profound concern with Belarusian senior government officials involved in coercive disappearance and/or execution with no proper judicial proceedings of three political opponents of the present regime, in 1999, and a journalist, 2000. The resolution insistently calls the Belarusian government to dismiss or remove those functionaries from office, and launch an independent and exhaustive investigation of those and similar cases. Also alarming the commission is Belarusian election organization and actual polls, arbitrary detentions and arrests, and NGOs, independent media outlets and political parties in opposition victimized and suppressed.

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