Grodno’s state-run printing plant has refused to print the weekly of the Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) since May 26, citing the existence of the organization’s debts as the grounds.
A print run of the private newspaper Den was seized on Belarus` Russian border on the evening of May 26, Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Markevich told BelaPAN. According to Mr. Markevich, the shipment passed the Belarusian customs checkpoint without hindrance but then the vehicle was stopped by road police officers who said that there might be something wrong with the shipment.
In Mahilou two activists of the Zubr resistance movement were punished for the action they staged outside the Mahilou KGB office in commemoration of the anniversary of the disappearance of the former Minister of Interior of Belarus Iury Zakharanka.
On 25 May four members of the Zhodzina-based Young Front went on hunger strike to protest against the wave of expulsions from universities, including secondary schools. This is the information provided by www.belngo.info. Among the hunger strikers is the under-age Siarzhuk Murashka, who was expelled from a polytechnic college last week. The Young Front leadership says that in case the legal demands of the hunger strikers are not fulfilled in the near future, the Zhodzina action will become nation-wide.
New law "On Organs of State Security" has taken effect. This is the information provided by Radio Liberty. The human rights activists and the opposition have already referred to this law as "another stepping stone" to a totalitarian Stalinist-type system. However, the Chamber of Representatives think that the new version of the law meets the contemporary threats and Belarus acts in the mainstream of the world`s tendency. What is this law going to change in the life of Belarusians?
United States Commission for International Religious Freedoms of US Congress (USCIRF) presented to the US leadership and the international community a traditional yearly report on the freedom of religious belief in the world. According to the US experts, this year Belarus got onto the so-called Watch List.
The CIS is the last line of defense for Russia and the forces that are trying to weaken Russia`s influence in the alliance will ultimately deal with Russia directly, said Alexei Pushkov, member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, the daily Trud reported.
At the today’s trial over opposition leaders, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of the European Coalition Mikola Statkevich and one of the leaders of the “Young Front” Paval Sevyarynets, Prosecutor Vadzim Paznyak (Vadim Pozniak) demanded to sentence them to three years of restraint of liberty. The politicians are charged with organizing mass protest actions against rigged results of parliamentary elections and referendum -- Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing of group actions, violating public order, or participation in them). The main complaint against Statkevich and Sevyarynets is blocking of traffic for a short time during the protest rally.
There has been no deterioration in the radiation situation in Belarus, Aleksandr Pavlovsky, chairman of the country`s State Border Troops Committee, told reporters in Minsk on May 26.
The chairman of the State Control Committee (SCC) noted flaws in the operation of the Belarusian banking system, accusing banks involving foreign capital of ignoring the country`s interests and keeping much of the capital attracted from Belarusian individuals and companies abroad.
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