Prohibited by official authorities white-red-white flag appeared today midday in the center of Belarusian capital. Activists of Zubr hanged it over Skaryna avenue just opposite KGB building. National flag was fluttering over the animated avenue for almost two hours. Than it was removed by communal service.
Press freedom conditions remained “dire” in Belarus in 2004, says Freedom House in its annual press freedom survey released in advance of World Press Freedom Day, May 3. The US-based global human rights watchdog says that “authoritarian governments” in Belarus and also in Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Sudan, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe, “used legal pressure, imprisonment, and other forms of harassment to severely curtail the ability of independent media to report freely.”’
ARTICLE 19 continues to be gravely concerned by the deteriorating media situation in Belarus, and particularly by infringements on journalists’ right to
freedom of expression by way of legal sanctions, increased State control over media output and distribution, economic pressure and physical violence and
intimidation.
Revision of the administrative cases of Ukrainian citizens detained in Belarus on April 26 for participation in the protest action on Chernobyl catastrophe, is to continue in Minsk on May 3, Interfax-Ukraine informs.
Amnesty International considers anyone currently imprisoned for their peaceful observation or participation in actions in Minsk on 26 April in commemoration of the Chernobyl catastrophe to be prisoners of conscience and is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka was entered on the list of the world leaders, who according to the international organization “Reporters without Borders” are directly responsible for violation of the freedom of press. Besides Lukashenka, presidents of Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and several other countries were entered on the list.
Activists of local non-governmental youth organizations showed their solidarity with the detained during the “Chernobyl Path”, who had been sentenced to several days of detention. On May 2 in Vorsha special leaflets with the names of the citizens of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, accused for participation in the protest rally on Chernobyl accident day, were glued to poster pillars. There was also a sheet of paper on which people could leave their signature in support of the detained in Minsk.
Ruslan Yesin, a spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, on May 2 rejected the accusation that Minsk unfairly treats jailed Ukrainian demonstrators. Earlier the same day, Ukraine`s foreign minister said that the Belarusian authorities have not bowed to public calls for the release of five Ukrainians arrested during the April 26 Chernobyl anniversary demonstration because of their "special attitude" toward Ukraine.
Activists of Ukraine’s national alliance threatened to blockade the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv if the five Ukrainians arrested during the April 26 opposition protest in Minsk are not released on May 3. The five detainees, sentenced to short jail terms of five to 15 days, are all members of the National Alliance. Among them is the movement’s leader Ihor Huz, a deputy of Lutsk City Soviet.
Prominent Belarusian historian Igor Kuznetsov, who participated last week in an international conference on the Soviet Union’s 1941-45 Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, described the conference as reminiscent of the Soviet era`s single mindedness.
A Belarusian court granted early release Saturday to two Russian journalists arrested last week while covering an opposition demonstration in the capital, Minsk, that marked the anniversary of the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The journalists were freed along with 12
Russians who participated in the rally, according to local and international press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists said jailing the reporters was unjust because they were simply doing their jobs.
The German embassy in Minsk said that the proportion of rejected visa applications rose from 4 to 10 percent because consular services have been checking applications more thoroughly.
The embassy noted an increase in the number of people seeking permanent residence in Germany or the European Union using illegal means or stating incomplete or incorrect data.
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