On August 24 the Economical court of Minsk region sustained a claim of Minsk regional executive committee to liquidate “Press-service” supplementary liability society, the founder of the newspaper “Kurjer iz Borisova”. The society is to be liquidated before January 1 next year.

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Pinsk city executive committee has not allowed the independent newspaper “Miastsovy Chas” to hold a concert to celebrate the 100 issue of the newspaper. The concert with participation of Pinsk bards was planned for August 21 in a city park of culture and recreation. The previous verbal arrangement was made with the head of Pinsk city executive council Alyaksandr Hordzich, who assured the editor-in-chief of the “Miastsovy Chas” Viktar Yarashuk that the concert is to take place without any problems. However, the official letter signed by the head of the city executive committee Alyaksandr Kaneuski informed that the city executive committee does not allow holding an “advertising action” of the newspaper.

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Representatives of Belarusian opposition and former political prisoners will meet with Saeima deputies, non-governmental organizations and members of the diplomatic corps at several events that will take place tomorrow, August 24, and Thursday, August 25.

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Thirty eight percent of Poles consider their government`s reaction in Warsaw-Minsk spat over the Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) "very mild," suggests a recent poll conducted by the Pentor institute at the request of Radio Polskie.

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Most of the money to be earmarked in the US 2006 and 2007 budgets for democracy programs in Belarus will go toward the monitoring of the 2006 presidential election, George Krol, the US ambassador to Belarus, said in an interview published by Belarus` private newspaper Obozrevatel on Friday.

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The legislatures of Belarus and Venezuela agreed to form special groups for promoting bilateral political, economic and cultural contacts, MP Mikhail Orda told reporters in Minsk on August 23.

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The European Commission has concluded a contract with Deutsche Welle Radio for a sum of 138,000 Euro for organizing radio and internet broadcasting for Belarus since November 1, 2005, the European Commission reports.

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The European Commission has granted a €138.000 contract to Deutsche Welle Radio to broadcast via radio and Internet into Belarus. These programmes will be in an initial stage primarily in Russian, one of the state languages of Belarus, though content may also be provided in Belarusian in the future. With this measure, the Commission hopes to increase the awareness of the Belarusian population about democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, freedom of press and human rights. Broadcasting will take place over 12 months from 1 November 2005. The Commission is the first donor to carry out this type of activity in support of human rights and freedom of expression in Belarus.

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Uladzimir Kobets, a coordinator of the Zubr movement, and two citizens of Georgia where detained today in Minsk by the Victory Square (Ploshcha Pabedy). The name of only one detained Georgian is known so far: Georgy Kandelaki. They where detained by people in plainclothes, which presented themselves as officers of a criminal investigation department. One of them presented himself as Mr. Kolotsej and told that he is executing the order of his leadership.

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Vice-chairman of the Union of Poles in Belarus Jozef Porzecki was interrogated on August 23 in the police department of Hrodna. The interrogator asked were Mr. Porzecki was on the night of January 6/7 this year, when a car of Tadeusz Kruczkowski, former UPB head, was burnt.

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Policemen disrupted the meeting of activists of public organizations of Homel with the representative of the political department of the US Embassy in Belarus Lyle McMillan. The BelaPAN was informed about it by one of the participants of the meeting, an activist of the women public association “Initiativa” Halina Skarakhod. The US Embassy expressed concern over the detention of its representative in Homel. As the official comment reads, at present the fact of detention of an American diplomat is discussed with Belarusian official personelities.

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After the official address to the participants of the XVI International Festival of Youth and Students, the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez had a meeting with the leaders of the Belarusian delegation and expressed a wish to meet with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the “Belarusian Republican Union of Youth” (BRSM), the head of the delegation Mikhail Arda (Orda) told about that in the National press center on August 22.

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The details of the incident with Polish correspondent of the “Gazeta Wyborcza” Waclaw Radziwinowicz have become known. After his passport was seized at the border, he was detained, searched and interrogated by Belarusian police right after arriving to Hrodna.

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"Lukashenka wants to isolate Belarus still further. Now the Belarusian regime will control any foreign help. Youth exchange programs, conferences and seminars are now under scrutiny." This is the conclusion made by Gazeta Wyborcza as it analyzes the latest decree issued by Aliaxandr Lukashenka "On International Technical Assistance from Abroad", reported Radio Liberty.

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Anywhere else in Europe, political cartoons would be considered harmless satire, designed more to amuse than to undermine the State. Not so in Belarus. When animated mini films featuring President Lukashenko appeared on the internet, the KGB, the Belarusian security service, responded immediately. It raided three apartments in Minsk, confiscated 12 computers and interrogated Andrei Obuzov and Pavel Morozov, the two men who put the cartoons on their website for five hours.

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Kremlin loyalists across Russia have begun a concerted campaign to rewrite the country`s constitution to allow President Vladimir Putin to serve a third term. The initiative is likely to cause alarm in the West where there is growing concern at the Kremlin`s assault on democracy.

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On August 23 investigator for particularly important cases of the republican prosecutor’s office Valery Tserakhovich officially charged former deputy and the head o the deputies’ group “Respublika”, well-known oppositional politician Syarhei Skrabets. The investigator visited the prison hospital in Apanski Street in Minsk where the former MP is placed.

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