The Foreign Ministry of Slovakia issued a statement condemning the verdict passed on August 4, 2006 in Partnerstva trial. The court of Tsentralny district of Minsk passed a verdict to the four Partnerstva activists. Mikalay Astrejka was sentenced to 2 years in a minimum-security correctional labour facility, Tsimafei Dranchuk to one year of minimum-security correctional labour facility, Alyaksandr Shalajka and Enira Branitskaya to 6 months of imprisonment. The Foreign Ministry of Slovakia expressed deep concern over another case of political persecution after an extremely harsh verdict of five and a half years of imprisonment for a former candidate for presidency, Professor Kazulin.
One more opposition activist is fired. On July 27 the labour contract of a history teacher of the school number 8 in Babrujsk, Alyaksandr Chyhir, expired. The contract had not been extended. During the presidential campaign Alyaksandr Chyhir, a deputy of Babrujsk town council, was in charge of the Babrujsk headquarters of the united democratic forces’ leader Milinkevich.
After the so-called ‘congregative assembly’ of the pro-presidential Communist Party of Belarus (CPB) and the oppositional Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB) the authorities of Homel region continue persecuting the latter one. One of the most widespread means is pressurization of ordinary activists, who work at state enterprises and were elected to check-up committees and other organizational units of PCB whom their administration forces to sign applications about leaving the party, threatening to fire them otherwise.
The flooded suburb of Barysau Zalineiny is in the focus of attention of news sites for the third day already. Its citizens have stopped a passenger train thusly breaking the railway schedule at Minsk-Barysau segment. The water has already left the yards of Zalineiny. People fear that after the public interest to the event fades they will have to solve their problems alone. On the other hand, it became known that the police started to pay visits to the houses of the citizens who took part in overlapping the railway.
The father of Tsimafei Dranchuk, one of the activists of the civil initiative of elections monitoring “Partnership” (Partnerstva), a well-known journalist and ecologist Valery Dranchuk, draws attention of the public that by ruling to imprison human rights activists, the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk disregarded blatant violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, though Belarus is its member state. “Tsimafei has a son, whom he first saw during announcement of the verdict. Platon is to turn 4 months soon, he is growing, he imbibes emotions, and he must feel his father from the first days of his life. It is humanly understandable! However this aspect had been completely ignored by the investigators, the regime’s officials and the prosecutor’s office of Belarus, which I had applied to change the measure of restraint to child’s benefit,” Valery Dranchuk said in an interview to the Charter’97 press center.
After the verdict was passed to an activist of the civil initiative of elections observation “Partnerstva” (“Partnership”) Alyaksandr Shalajka, he was transferred to another ward of the remand prison in Valadarski Street. Incarceration conditions in that ward are much worse. The Charter’97 press center has been informed about that by a lawyer of Alyaksandr Shalajka, Vera Stramkouskaya.
A mandatory leave of workers of Barysau enterprise of musical instruments is extended for one more month, until September 1. The workers have been promised to receive for August, similarly as for the two summer months, two thirds of tariff, which is paid for a leave of absence according to the labour laws.
George Bush has announced a “national strategy” of uncovering and seizing in foreign countries stolen funds of corrupt high-level government officials. “Our objective is to defeat high-level public corruption in all its forms and to deny corrupt officials access to the international financial system as a means of defrauding their people and hiding their ill-gotten gains,” President Bush said in an August 10 statement.
Syarhei Sidorski, Belarusian Prime Minister, states that the intention of the joint stock company Gazprom to start Russian gas delivery to Belarus at European prices run contrary to the key agreements in the framework of the “union state” for creation of equal conditions for economic entities.
As the human rights center Viasna has found out, the head of Brest regional branch of the Belarusian Popular Front, Yuras Hubarevich, is to be transferred from Byaroza remand prison to Ivatsevichy. The reasons of transfer are unknown.
The chairman of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka and deputy chairman of the party Ihar Shynkaryk have been released from a police department. For an hour and a half of staying the police department in Mahilyou they were released twice. But then they were overtaken and returned back. The last time they were returned back after an order by a public security police commander of Mahilyou region Mikalay Alyonushkin on the telephone.
The European Union is deeply concerned about the sentencing of four members of the Belarusian NGO "Partnership", Mr Timofei Dranchuk, Mr Aleksandr Shalaiko, Mr Nikolai Astreiko, and Mrs Enira Bronitskaya, from six months to two years imprisonment on August 4, 2006, the declaration of the European Union’s Presidency reads.
The authorities of the city of Hrodna in Western Belarus have given this year another order to destroy the historical centre of this city. Hrodna is 820 years old and is considered to be one of the most European cities in this country. The architecture of this city closely resembles Vilnius, which was built along similar lines. During World War II Hrodna suffered the least damage of Belarusian cities. However, according to Belarusian historians and enthusiasts of European architecture, the real war for Hrodna is just beginning.
Launching production line of Samand sedan cars in Belarus is the first step for presence of Iranian industries in East European markets, Iranian ambassador to Belarus Abdolmajid Fekri said, IRNA reported.
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