“Such a judgement is a shame for the country and another blot on the reputation of Belarusian justice. Belarusian judges and prosecutors have forgotten that the word “justice” translated from Latin means “just court”. There is not a trace of justice here. It is a political order, another stage of endless presidential campaign of Lukashenka. Mikola Statkevich and Paval Sevyarynets are selected as new victims in order to intimidate the whole society, to neutralize the most active people, those who could cause problems for Lukashenka before the elections in 2006,” told Mikola Markevich, editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Pahonya”, closed by the authorities, to Charter’97 press center, commenting on the verdict to Paval Sevyarynets and Mikola Statkevich. In 2001 the journalist together with his colleague Paval Mazhejka was also sentenced to a year and a half of “corrective labour” on charges of libelling Lukashgenka. “Restrain of liberty, or corrective labour (so-called “chemistry”), is one of the most humiliating measures of punishment for a person. The person is not only deprived of liberty, but he is to pay for his imprisonment fully out of your own pocket. I would call it slavery. It makes such sentences so mean,” Mikola Markevich is confident.
“The political order is executed. In this way the authorities tried to neutralize those who are able to organize street protest actions. However the regime is late. Recently many new young leaders emerged, able to carry out a “velvet” scenario in Belarus,” told Paval Sevyarynets, who had become a political prisoner, in his interview to the Charter’97 press center. Together with the leader of Social Democrats, Mikola Statkevich, he is sentenced to three years of restraint of liberty. “We could expect the wave of repression to continue, but I am sure that they cannot imprison all. The fact that people have gone on hunger strike in Zhodzina, and that opposition representatives and citizens are behaving with dignity, gives us hope that in 2006 Belarusian velvet revolution is possible. I hope that this case would end in revision of judgement earlier than in two years,” told the young politician.
“Undoubtedly, it is a political reprisal, and moreover, in the most cynical form, as both Statkevich and Sevyarynets has already served the sentence for this political charge.
Depriving Statkevich and Sevyarynets of liberty, the regime’s objective is not only isolating active, courageous people, but fights against pro-European sentiment in the society. These two leaders are those who pursue a Europe-oriented policy,” told the international coordinator of the civil initiative Charter’97, member of the Council of Civil initiatives “Free Belarus” Andrei Sannikov, commenting on the verdict to the opposition leaders Mikola Statkevich and Paval Sevyarynets. But, according to the human rights activist, by convicting opposition leaders, Belarusian authorities had fallen into a trap, as the fate of Statkevich and Sevyarynets, as well as other political prisoners, had become the main condition for development relations not only with the EU, but with Russia as well.
The detention has taken place in Minsk, where Alyaksandr Skrabets (Skrebets) lives. After that he was transferred to Brest. There, in a remand prison, Syarhei Skrabets, one of the Belarusian opposition leaders, former deputy and head of the deputy group “Respublika” is kept since May 15. The information about detention of the younger brother of former deputy of “Radio Svaboda” was confirmed by Mikhail Khomich, a lawyer of Syarhei Skrabets.
The judgment to the chairman of 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 is to be today, at 2 p.m. Today morning, at 10 a.m., Paval Sevyarynets made his last statement. Mikola Statkevich refused to speak in the court. On May 24 the politician was sentenced to 10 days of arrest. He had been charged with contempt to court.
Trial over the well-known human rights activist, the leader of civil initiative “Veterans for democracy”, member of “Free Belarus” Valery Schukin was rescheduled for June 3. The human rights activist filed a petition for lawyer’s participation in the trial.
A global media watchdog has criticized the Belarusian authorities for cracking down on press freedom, saying that the country “continues to provide an extremely difficult environment for media.”
France’s rejection of the European Union (EU) constitution “will slow but not stop the European integration process,” Sergei Kalyakin, leader of the Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC), told BelaPAN commenting on the results of the May 29 referendum in that country.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, vice speaker of the State Duma (lower chamber of Russia’s federal parliament) and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), is expected to visit Minsk on Tuesday.
City authorities in Minsk have given the go-ahead for a protest against trade union rights violations set for June 1, but imposed conditions that actually make the protest impossible. Aleksandr Yaroshuk, leader of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BCDTU), said that the BCDTU intended to stage a demonstration at the remote park close to the Bangalore Square to attract public attention to the government’s failure to fulfill recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
A well-known human rights activist, leader of the civil initiative “Veterans For Democracy”, member of the Council of Civil initiatives “Free Belarus” Valery Schukin was arrested yesterday in Minsk in Masherov Avenue (Masherau Avenue), which had been recently renamed as Avenue of the Victors by Belarusian authorities. With other veterans the human rights activist was standing with the portrait of Pyort Masherov. They demanded to return the old name to the avenue. The rally was disbanded by SWAT policemen in mufti. In the sight of the veterans SWAT policemen tore the portraits of former head of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.
A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said in Beijing Monday China will enhance the exchange of ideas with Belarus in supervision of government.
Specialists cast doubt Monday on the authenticity of a painting said to be by late Belarus artist Marc Chagall, which sold at auction Sunday for $650,000 US.
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