Independent mass media have received information from some sources in the Central Election Committee and Presidential Administration about possible non-registration of he leader of democratic forces of Belarus Alyaksandr Milinkevich as a candidate for presidency in Belarus. “We know that the authorities are dreading a serious competitor, a candidate of democratic forces Alyaksandr Milinkevich, and are considering a variant of non-registration him as a candidate. There is information that the authorities are going to register only two candidates, Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Syarhei Hajdukevich. The second one is a completely toothless and candidate manageable by the regime. The headquarters take into account developments of the situation under this scenario and will continue struggle even in case of non-registration of Milinkevich,” the leader of Milinkevich’s HQ Syarhei Kalyakin said, commenting this information to the Charter’97.
At the moment participants of the election campaign “who use internet as a means of agitation, cannot be punished”, but “in due course the situation here is to change as well”, told the head of the Belarusian Central Election Committee Lidziya Yarmoshyna said in an interview to the Zvyazda of January 26.
As Radio Svaboda reports, militia officers detained Uladzimer Ruml, the head of the Czech diplomatic mission to Belarus, today, on his way to political prisoner Mikola Statkievich. The oppositional politician serves his sentence in Baranavichy for organization of street manifestations against falsification of the election and referendum results in October 2004.
As Lidziya Yarmoshyna, the Chairperson of the Central Election Committee, told the newspaper “Zviazda” January 26, the Central committee on election and republican referenda needs not more than 40 days to cunduct the referendum on the Constitutional act of the so-called “union state” of Belarus and Russia.
“My position that ideology cannot be privatized and the State must support the Mass Media is very popular, and today many countries envy us for this”, - Aliaxandar Lukashenka stated today, presenting workers of radio and television with state rewards.
“Deputy group for solidarity with Belarus” was formed in the Polish Seim. As Radio Svaboda reports, the friends of the group - deputies of the ruling party, as well as oppositional politicians - intend to strengthen the impact carried out by the Polish Parliament and the Parliaments of the neighbouring democratic countries on the present Belarusian State power to make them respect human rights.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution on Belarus, advocating isolation of the Belarusian regime. According to the resolution, isolation means termination of issuing visas to a “large number of high-ranking officials” of Belarus. The matter also concerns freezing bank accounts and other financial assets of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his entourage. The resolution was based on the report which text follows.
Chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), announced that the Commission will hold a briefing to explore the latest political developments on the eve of elections in Belarus as seen from a trans-Atlantic perspective. The deputies of the European Parliament Aldis Kuskis (Latvia) and Barbara Kudrycka (Poland) are to take part in the briefing.
The former deputy and leader of the group “Respublika” Syarhei Skrabets has withdrawn his candidature from election race. The Radio Svaboda was informed about that by the head of his initiative group Syarhei Halahaniuk. He underlined that Skrabets does not believe in just elections in Belarus, and that he would be registered as a candidate.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has passed a resolution on Belarus, advocating isolation of Lukashenka’s regime. According to the resolution, isolation means termination of issuing visas to a “large number of high-ranking officials” of Belarus. The matter also concerns freezing bank accounts and other financial assets of Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his entourage.
The European Commission is announcing today which media consortium will undertake a ˆ2 million project to increase access in Belarus to independent sources of news and information. The selected consortium, led by Media Consulta (Germany) includes implementing partners from Poland (European Radio for Belarus, Lithuania (Radio Baltic Wave), Belarus (journalists, civil society and NGOs), and Russia (RTVi), which will broadcast by satellite from Germany. It will be supported by a number of EU NGOs specialized in the media sector. The two-year project will cover radio and TV broadcasts, internet, support to the Belarusian written press and training of journalists. The radio and TV broadcasting programmes will start in February before the presidential elections in Belarus.
The speaker of the illegitimate Belarusian “parliament” Uladzimir Kanaplyou, taking part in the debate in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on situation in his country, called upon the Assembly not to hinder in work. “We have only one request: just let us work tranquilly. That’s what Alyaksandr Lukashenka asked to tell,” Kanaplyou said to the Assembly. “There won’t be either orange, or denim, or any other revolution in Belarus,” he said. He also said that “We are pressurized here, because we do not kneel to the USA”.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Rene van der Linden has invited representatives of all political forces of Belarus to the international conference in Prague, where the situation in Minsk before the presidential elections in Belarus.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has just adopted a resolution, condemning violations in Belarus. “Unlike all other European countries, Belarus does not meet the requirements in the sphere of pluralistic democracy, rule of law and respect to human rights, to become a member of the Council of Europe,” the PACE resolution notes. This resolution has been prepared based on the report of the PACE parliamentarian from Azerbaijan Azim Mollazade. As we have informed, the leader of the democratic forces of Belarus Alyaksandr Milinkevich has taken part on the PACE session. Further information is to be reported later.
The leader of the Strike Committee of Vendors Valery Levaneuski has been placed to a penal isolation ward of Ivatsevichy colony number 22. Besides, a meeting with relatives scheduled for January 31 is banned for him. The Charter’97 was informed about that by his son, Uladzimir Levaneuski.
“The Union for Democracy Support in Belarus” greeted the democratic forces’ candidate for presidency in Belarus, Alyaksandr Milinkevich, during his visit to Warsaw University on January 25. The leader of the Union for Democracy Support in Belarus Antos Tsialezhnikau on behalf of all who advocate democratic changes in Belarus said words of support to Mr Milinkevich. A jeans ribbon was attached to the suit of Alyaksandr Milinkevich.
Chairperson of Polish Seim Marek Jurek is not afraid of the reaction of the Belarusian powers to the speech delivered by candidate of the democratic forces for the President post Alyaxandr Milinkevich in Polish Seim. According to Marek Jurek, it is vital that the Poles should be well aware of the situation in Belarus. “We link much hope with the action that Alyaxandr Milinkevich holds now. I mean consolidation of democratic forces and election campaign that take place in harsh conditions. Nevertheless, we would like the Polish society to get acquainted with the views of Alyaxandr Milinkevich and Belarusian diplomats with the help of the Parliament and the given speech. The Polish society should know what is going on in Belarus during the election campaign”, - the Seim Chairperson told Radio Polonia.
Sitting in a prison cell halfway around the planet, an Egyptian opposition leader forced President Bush this month to confront the question of how serious he was when he vowed to devote his second term to "ending tyranny in our world."
Initiative groups of opposition contenders for the presidential race demand equal access to TV. After yesterday’s appearance of the head of Lukashenka’s initiative group Viktar Shejman in the TV program “Panarama” of the Belarusian state TV, heads of other initiative groups wrote to the Belarusian TV and to the Central Election Committee and stated their wish to appear on the state TV channel with their comment on the election campaign developments, and with estimation of the situation differing from Shejman’s, the Radio Svaboda informs.
It has been hot time recently in Poland despite low temperature - tense discussions of the budget, governmental coalition. Nevertheless, the visit of Alyaxandr Milinkevich, the democratic forces candidate for the post of the President, became one of the most widely covered events in the Polish Mass Media. As Radio Svaboda reports, leading Polish TV-channels broadcast this news.
Key Polish press as well write about Milinkevich’s visit. “Gazeta Wyborcza” quotes Speaker of Polish Seim Marek Jurek, who said that the unprecedented speech delivered by Alyaxandr Milinkevich in the Polish Parliament “will contribute to friendly relations between the Polish and Belarusian people”. As the Polish newspaper emphasizes, Deputies of the Seim applauded to the speech of A.Milinkevich and two of them unfolded the white-red-white flag.
Belarussians must fight for their independence, honour and homeland, presidential candidate of the Belarussian opposition Aleksandr Milinkevich told the Polish Sejm on Wednesday. Presidential elections in Belarus will be held on March 19.
Poland has openly backed Belarus` main opposition candidate by allowing him to address the Polish parliament. Alexander Milinkevich is the first opposition politician from Belarus to address the chamber since Alexander Lukashenko came to power in 1994.
Belarus opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich will get an awkward but top level reception in Brussels next week, with Minsk fuming that the EU is taking sides before the country`s presidential elections on 19 March.
Election observers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are to meet with representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) at the office of the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk on Thursday, a source at the Executive Committee told BelaPAN.
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) today strongly condemned the massive human rights violations committed by totalitarian communist regimes and expressed sympathy, understanding and recognition for the victims of these crimes.
Today a one-day visit to Strasbourg of a democratic candidate for presidency in Belarus Alyaksandr Milinkevich starts. He is to take part in the session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. During the visit meetings with President of the Parliamentary Assembly Rene van der Linden and Speaker of the Group for Democratic Stability Stephen Howard.
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