In Shchuchyn policemen arrested two Hrodna activists of the Union of Poles in Belarus, journalist Andrzej Poczobut and reporter of “Salidarnasts” Ivan Roman. They were taken to a police department of Lenin district of Hrodna, and then taken back to Shchuchyn. According to the latest information, they where left in police department until morning. Meanwhile, the head of Hrodna city branch of the Union of Poles Meczyslaw Yaskewicz was detained in Vaukavysk, allegedly for identification.
Today a representative of Georgian embassy in Kyiv and a lawyer were not allowed to visit arrested activists of Georgian movement “Kmara”. Besides, today representatives of the human rights center “Viasna” without any explanation were forbidden to give parcels with food to “Kmara” activists. Citizens of Georgia Luka Tsuladze and Georgi Kandelaki are kept ino Minsk pre-trial detention center since August 24. Earlier “Zubr” activists were not allowed to send food to detainees as well.
“Not long ago I returned from Georgia, where I met with President Mikhail Saakashvili, parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, Foreign Minister, the head of International Relations Committee, leaders of the “Kmara” movement and journalists. These are people who are building the democratic future of their nation, of their country, of their youth today. Today’s Belarus is moving in opposite direction, and it’s a death-throe of the regime. The force is used when there are no other arguments. Exactly that had happened during the arrest of Georgian citizens and today’s disbanding of the action of solidarity with “Kmara” activists organized by Belarusian Zubr movement. I think that reaction of Georgian authorities to this total lawlessness is to be immediate and harsh,” told the leader of civil initiative “We Remember”, member of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus” Iryna Krasouskaya in her interview to the Charter’97 press center, commenting on the arrest of Georgian activists of the “Kmara” and disbanding of the action of solidarity with “Kmara” activists organized by Belarusian youth movement Zubr in the center of Minsk.
Today Hrodna regional police department summoned deputy head of the Union of Poles in Belarus, Wieslaw Kiewlak. He was served a writ that he is announced a suspect in the criminal case on charges relating article 185 of the Criminal Code of Belarus.
An action in solidarity with arrested activists of Georgian movement “Kmara” has taken place today in the center of Minsk by activists of the Belarusian youth movement “Zubr”. “Zubr” activists came to Skaryna Avenue with a streamer “freedom to Georgian brothers!” and a Georgian and Belarusian flags. They were loudly chanting “Freedom!” and handing out leaflets with the statement of the “Zubr” movement, demanding immediate release of “Kmara” activists. The solidarity action with Georgian citizens was brutally disbanded by Minsk riot police. (photo)
A U.S. diplomat was briefly detained by police in the Belarusian city of Gomel August 23, the State Department confirmed August 25. “Police entered a routine meeting this U.S. diplomat was having with representatives of non-governmental organizations,” the State Department said in response to a question taken August 24. “They refused to permit the diplomat to leave for forty minutes, without offering any clear explanation, except for an alleged need to check his identification.”
On August 27 in Vaukavysk the convention of the “Union of Poles in Belarus” is to take place. 250 delegates are to arrive. However, this meeting is organized and would be held with significant violations, the representatives of the International and Interdenominational initiative “Amity”.
The activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, journalist Andrzej Poczobut, and a reporter of the “Salidarnasts” newspaper Ivan Roman are detained. As Ivan Roman told on the phone, their car was detained at the exit road from Shchuchyn, in the direction of Vaukavysk. Policemen said that their car had been allegedly stolen. Now the both journalists and the car are transported to Hrodna.
The theme of the activists of Georgian youth organization “Kmara”, detained in Minsk, is widely discussed in Georgia. The accusations of the Belarusian KGB, that Georgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze allegedly interfered in the internal affairs of Belarus, are called absurd in Tbilisi. Education and Science Minister of the Georgian government Kakha Lomaia personally knows Giorgi Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze. He told that the arrest of Georgian citizens in Minsk was very painful for them, as, according to the minister, they are innocent, and their detention illegal. “The regime that treats its own citizens in this way (I mean opposition and public associations), acts in the same way towards foreigners as well. I think that it is predestined for this regime that once the Belarusian nations would show it its place at a garbage heap of history,” stated the Georgian minister to Radio Svaboda.
Arturas Paulauskas, the speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, says that the nation is implementing European Union policy towards Belarus, but there is a need for a more unanimous EU policy towards Russia. In the opinion of Paulauskas, psychological incompatibility is what keeps Lithuania from developing good relations with Russia.
"I am sure that the particular past events do not overshadow the relations between Lithuania and Russia, nor does the perception of the present. There is a simple psychological incompatibility, and this will be eliminated," the Seimas speaker said on a radio program of Ziniu Radijas Wednesday.
Slovak NGOs are training Belorussian opposition leaders, andare also preparing Cuban dissidents for "life after Fidel Castro",Hospodarske noviny daily reports.
On 23 August, an investigator for particularly important cases from the Belarusian Prosecutor`s Office, Vyachaslaw Tserakhovich, officially charged [opposition] politician Syarhey Skrabets, a former deputy of the House of Representatives [parliament`s lower house], with fraudulently obtaining loans from the state. Similar charges were brought against his brother, Alyaksandr Skrabets. Belapan learnt this from Alyaksandr Skrabets.
It should be recalled that criminal proceedings were instituted against Skrabets in May 2004. He was accused of fraudulently obtaining loans from the state and of organizing a criminal group. Seven people have been convicted in the case - the managers of the BelBabayevskiy trading house, the Beltreydekspa company and branch No 510 of Belarusbank. The first company received a loan of 320,000 dollars and the second 180,000 dollars. Syarhey Skrabets headed the BelBabayevskiy trading house prior to his election to the House of Representatives.
Accused of conspiring against President Alexander Lukashenko, ousted as head of the Association of Poles in Belarus and threatened with a lawsuit, Anzelika Borys was forced out of her life as a professor and into battle with the country`s hardline regime. "I did not want to become the enemy of Alexander Lukashenko and the Belarusian authorities," the 31-year-old former student of Polish said in a recent interview, confessing she was "very tired" of the constant pressure she faces from Belarus officials.
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka phoned his counterparts in Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia on Thursday seeking to build a group that would step up pressure on Belarus, Belka`s press service reported.
On August 25 Alyaksandr Skrabets, the younger brother of the former deputy and the head of deputy group “Respublika”, oppositional politician Syarhei Skrabets, was summoned to the Republican Prosecutor’s office. He gave a written undertaking not to leave without permission.
A criminal case has been initiated against the editor-in-chief of the edition of the Union of Poles in Belarus “Magazyn Polski” Andrzej Poczubut, press-secretary of the UPB Andrzej Pisalnik, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Glos znad Niemna” Jozef Porzecki and deputy head of the UPB Wieslaw Kiewlak.
On August 25 at the Belarusian check-point “Bruzhi” the cameraman of Polish TV Company from Bialystok Roman Warszycki was not allowed to enter Belarus. He was not told the reason and advised to address the Consulate General of Belarus in Bialystok. However, the visa and accreditation of Mr. Warszycki were not cancelled.
Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka phoned his counterparts in Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia on Thursday seeking to build a group that would step up pressure on Belarus, Belka`s press service reported.
The prime ministers of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine have agreed to set up a joint working party to coordinate policy towards the troublesome state of Belarus.
A rare book of cartoons satirising Adolf Hitler, but officially sanctioned by the Fu"hrer himself, was sold at auction this week. On the same day, The Times reported that three internet cartoonists in Minsk who dared to ridicule Alexsandr Lukashenko, the autocratic president of Belarus, had been raided by the state security service; they were interrogated, their computers were confiscated and they now face up to five years in prison.
An intergovernmental agreement on visa-free trips on diplomatic and service passports was signed in Damascus by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus to the Syrian Arab Republic Vladimir Lopato-Zagorskiy and chief of the treaty-legal department of the foreign ministry of Syria Muhammad Said Al Bunni.
The KGB (Committee of State Security) of Belarus announced that the members of the radical Georgian youth organization “Kmara” have arrived to the country with the aim to destabilize the situation and would be deported, “Interfax informs. As the deputy head of Minks and Minsk region department of the KGB Vladimir Sviridov said, the Georgian citizens are accused of interference in the internal affairs of the country.
Dear Colleagues. Remember, please, you are expected to refer to the Charter`97 Press Center when using the site materials. News export , javascript-informer
, javascript-informer
