Today Aliaxandar Skrabets was summoned to the legal investigator of the Brest public prosecutor’s office Andrei Livanau who is in charge of the case of his brother, the opposition activist, former deputy and the Republic group leader Siargey Skrabets and Aliaxandar himself. Aliaxandar Skrabets appeared in the case as his elder brother’s accomplice - “I was present at the conversation of Siargey Skrabets whit those people who later claimed Siargey intended to bribe them.”
The leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Lliabedz’ka resolved to go to the law when the prosecutor’s office refused to consider the legitimacy of Aliaxandar Lukashenka’s decree to rename streets and avenues of the Belarusian capital city. “As a lawyer I am sure that Lukashenka’s actions are illicit. As a citizen I am insulted by boorishness and cynicism of the powers. As a taxpayer I don’t want to pay for a “tsar’s” caprice. As a Minsker I can and I must fight for the truth,” - the politician said in his interview to the UCP.
Thursday, at the 4th Economic Summit in Munich, President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga called Europe to achieve new agreements on the future of the European Union and its management and also to communicate these ideas to the citizens in a simpler way. The Latvian President said that the EU should by no means become a closed club, because successful development is comprised within open relationship with all European countries that protect the democratic values. “Thus, the European Union will uphold consolidation of civil societies, independent Mass Media, non-governmental organizations and human rights activists in such countries as, for example, Ukraine, Georgia or Belarus, the latter being the last authoritarian dictatorship in Europe,” - said the President of Latvia. Vaira Vike-Freiberga called the Europeans who live in freedom and democracy to be “a lighthouse for those people in many countries where those values are still a dream,” as the BNS news agency was told in the Press Service of the President of Latvia.
The family of the political prisoner Valery Levaneuski received 5 letters from him at one time. Practically all the letters were perused and “censored” by someone - each of the letters lacked 3-4 pages. But the family managed to get some information about the reformatory life of the entrepreneurs’ leader who went on a hunger strike on June 1. Valery Levaneuski is telling that he was forced to go to the prison hospital after he had hunger-stricken and that he was threatened by some prisoners because of his complaints on the prison administration.
Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said at a special session of the Parliament on June 10 that the decision of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to impose visa regime for Georgia confirms ineffectiveness of the decisions accepted within the frames of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) .
The Minsk Pershamaiskiy District Administration sent a letter to administrations of the enterprises, institutions and organizations situated in the district concerning the subscription campaign that had started May 15. The letter is dated May 25.
June 9, the Minsk Leninski District Court partially redressed 6 claims against “Narodnaya Volia” and bounded the newspaper to pay BR 15 mln in sum to the claimants, as Mikhail Pastukhou, the head of the Center for Juridical Protection of the Mass Media of the republican public association (RPA) “Belarusian Jounalist Association”, said to BelaPAN.
At 4 p.m. on 7 June Human Rights Center Viasna held the presentation of its yearly Chronicle-Review of Human Rights Violation in Belarus, issued in three languages. Viasna chairman Aliaksandr Bialiatski, its lawyer Valiantsin Stefanovich and human rights activist Valiery Shchukin took the floor at the presentation.
During the plenary session, June 9, when the Minister of Justice Viktar Galavanau mounted the platform, the Deputy of the so-called “house of representatives” Volga Abramava asked him on what grounds their ex-colleague Siargey Skrabets had been imprisoned more than 3 days so far. However, the Chairpeson of “the house” Uladzimir Kanapliou said that the question posed by Abramava was not related to the matter being considered and proposed to the Minister not to reply. Viktar Galavanau followed the advice, as Radio Liberty said.
The Belarusian KGB is attempting to establish the origin of an organization called the National Liberation Army, which, according to information available on the Internet, claimed responsibility for an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that allegedly occurred in late May.
We, representatives of Belarusian human rights movement express our decisive protest against political persecution of students at higher educational establishments of Belarus by their administration.
At about 5 p.m. on 8 June in Svietlahorsk the police detained Siarhiei Siamionau, activist of Homiel youth center “Hart allegedly on suspicion that he bought drugs. However, at the police station the police major Zykun composed a report about distribution of printed production without issue data on behalf of unregistered organization, because Third Way stickers were found in Siamionau’s bag. The police confiscated the stickers together with 100 US dollars and 100 Euro the detainee had with him. Mr. Siamionau intends to complaint to court and procurator’s office against it.
Chairman of the International Relations Committee in the parliament of Georgia, Kote Gabashvili, has offered the authorities of the country to “take personal decision never to issue entering visa for Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally”. This statement has been made by him, commenting on the decision by Lukashenka to impose visa requirements for Georgians, ITAR-TASS informs. “Taking into consideration that Lukashenka himself has no right to enter the territory of the EU and USA, he is not given visa there, he was to get hurt and Georgia, a beacon of democracy, according to president Bush, was the first to occur to him,” Gabashvili said.
Iranian company Keyson will invest more than $100 million to set up a transport service complex in the Minsk free economic zone for the M1/E30 highway, which runs from Brest to the Russian border, a source in the zone`s administration told Interfax.
A recent public opinion poll suggests Russians clearly believe the country has friends and foes in the world. However, results also suggest Russians are almost evenly split -- for some a foe is a friend and a friend a foe. Is Russia still looking for its place in the world? The Levada Center, Russia`s independent and most-respected public opinion agency, polled 1,600 Russians older than 18 years of age at the end May to determine how the general population sees the outside world. Determining which countries in the world are Russia`s friends and foes produced surprises and even contradictions. Belarus came out on top as Russia`s greatest friend in the world with 46 percent.
The well-known American financier, head of the American institute Open Society George Soros confirmed his intention to finance the European Humanitarian University (EHU), which, in his opinion, “will contribute to the creation of the democratic society in Belarus” read out, June 9, in the salutatory address at the inauguration conference in Vilnius dedicated to the formal start of restoration in Lithuania of the EHU, shut down by the belarusian authorities in July, 2004.
G. Soros said he would help the EHU students continue their studies, because, as he put it, “students are the future of any country, they can make actual impact on the situation within the state.”
The Ministry of Education will give permits for studying abroad for the students of the Belarusian Educational System establishments, which is stated in the Council of Ministers resolution # 576 from June 1, 2005. The given document introduces corrections into the Regulations of the Ministry of Education of Belarus.
Belarusian NGOs activists, has launched "Za Nashikh" ("For our lot") website (http://www.za.nashih.org) for an online campaign against Minsk streets renaming. This is a joint project of Tawarystwa Belaruskaj Mowy (Belarusian Language Community), Voka (the Eye), Third Way, Partnership NGOs.
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