The criminal action against well–known human rights activist, deputy head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Harry Pahanyajla, has been prolonged for one more month by the Minks city prosecutor’s office. He is suspected of libel against president and other high officials.
On June 16 the Belarusian Helsinki Committee found out that the tax inspection of the Maskouski district of Minsk had again challenged the ruling of the court, according to which human rights center does not have to pay taxes from the foreign aid TACIS. The courts have confirmed this ruling twice, however tax officers do not agree to that. They filed a complaint to Prosecutor General of Belarus.
On June 16 A. Lukashenka considered a number of personnel questions. As he told himself, a number of appointments have been made by him “despite the wishes of many”. In this connection Lukashenka called these decisions unexpected ones. “But in difficult periods one has to fond people with inventive thinking, honest and principled,” he explained. In fact, only appointment of the new trade minister and general directors of open joint stock society “Naftan” and joint venture “Mobile Digital Communications” are interesting in this long list of replacements.
Today since morning the workers of the production and technological department of construction organization number 22 in Polatsk went on strike. They gathered in the building of the head office, demanding pay rise and improvement of working conditions.
Today the local court of Barysau convicted editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper “Borisovskie Novosti” Anatol Bukas. According to the court decision, one of the articles by Mr.Bukas published last year contained a libel and slander against editor-in-chief of the local state-run newspaper “Adzinstva” Vera Pratasevich. (The founder of the newspaper “Adzinstva” is Barysau executive committee). The court fined the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper 40 basic units, and also ruled to compensate Mrs. Pratasevich’s moral damages (3 million Br), Radio Svaboda informs.
Today the hearing of the case of the “Narodnaya Volya” newspaper started in the economic Court of Minsk. The lawsuit was filed by administration of Salihorsk state mining and chemical technical school. They accuse the editorial office of the newspaper with damaging reputation. The technical school claims that its students never signed the opposition’s “Address to the People of Belarus” that the paper published, and demand to call this information untrue and libellous, to make the newspaper publish disclaimer and compensate state duty amounting to 10 basic units.
Poles in Belarus have lost independent weekly “Glos znad Niemna”. Last Friday the newspaper was published by the old leadership of the Union of Poles in Belarus, which is dependent from the official authorities. The only author, who signed all texts, was Tadevush Kruchkouski, former chairman of the Union of Poles. His articles are smearing the Polish government and the new leadership of the UPB.
First meeting for nomination of delegates for National Congress of pro-democracy forces in Svetlahorsk has been almost disrupted by policemen. An hour before the beginning of the meeting, the head of Homel branch of the Belarusian Popular Front Party Viktar Ramanishka and the head of Svetlahorsk city branch of the BPFP Vadzim Balabash, responsible for the meeting holding, were detained by police, when they left their homes.
June 15, lawyer from Grodna Aliaxandar Biarylau visited Valery Levaneuski in the Ivatsevichy reformatory. The lawyer told some details about his client’s hunger strike. “He feels fine. He said that everything was good, that he stopped the hunger strike successfully. There are some complaints on the heart, but this seems to be normal for all the inmates of the reformatory. He said that probably he would be sent to the republic prison hospital for medical examination,” - Aliaxandar Biarylau told Radio Liberty.
On June 14 social defender of the deputy of Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation, businessman Andrei Klimov, Tatsyana Leonovich, and Andrei Klimov himself, filed a cassation appeal from the judgement of the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk. On June 10, 2005, the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk found Andrei Klimov guilty of violation of Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (organizing group actions disrupting public order, or active participation in them) for a protest rally on March 25 in Minsk, organized by Andrei Klimov, and sentenced him to restraint of liberty for a year and a half.
The European Humanities University, a private institution banished from Belarus by President Aleksander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime last year, is set to be re-established – this time in Vilnius. On June 9, EHU International, successor of the ostracized institution, hosted an inaugural conference during which speakers greeted the initiative to reopen the university in Vilnius. With the help of EU assistance, the revitalized school will be able to operate as an independent entity.
At the same time the number of minor crimes has been on an increase, including personal thefts. Having studied the problem in Minsk oblast, the Office of Public Prosecutor came out with a set of measures on prompt detecting of these crimes, thorough investigating into these cases and on ensuring inevitability of punishment to the persons committing thefts. The Office of Public Prosecutor believes these measures would help reduce the number of thefts in the second half year.
US observers began on Wednesday inspection flyovers of military facilities of Russia and Belarus. A Russian Defence Ministry official told Itar-Tass that the “observation flights are carried out by specialists of the Pentagon within the framework of the Open Sky Treaty”.
Only a naive, sincere country new to the Biennale, or a giant sophisticate such as the US, dares to show paintings at a Biennale in 2005, which is what makes the first Belarussian pavilion in Venice such a triumph.
In 1986, the world`s worst nuclear power accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Today, high radiation levels still affect many people ? including children in Belarus.
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