KGB officers are visiting many activists in schools and other educational institutions, Radio Svaboda informs. Representatives of the administration of an educational institution are usually present during the conversations. Other young activists are ringed up for a conversation in the KGB.

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“Full value participation of Belarus in the European policy of good neighborhood opens opportunity for the country to strengthen its status of a sovereign state between the European Union and Russia and its reputation of a reliable, responsible and predictable neighbor”, declared head of the department for all-European cooperation of the chief division of Europe of the MFA of Belarus Uladzimir Serykau at the seminar “Exploring the opportunities for Belarus within the European Neighbourhood Policy” in Minsk 15 March.

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13 years ago deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the 12 convocation adopted the first basic law of independent Belarus. Under this law, the country has turned into a presidential republic. After the referendum in 1996 this holiday has become a working day. How this constitution is estimated by deputies who voted for and against its adoption? Radio Svaboda has interviewed several deputies.

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Today marks half a year of imprisonment of the Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich. The young activist was detained on September 15, 2006. On November 2 he was sentenced to a year and a half of imprisonment for activities on behalf of an unregistered organization.

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The USA does not have either moral or political rights for drafting the document on human rights observance in the world, spokesman for the Belarusian ministry for foreign affairs Andrey Papou declared at the briefing when commenting on the published annual report of the USA on human rights observance in the world.

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6 March president of Ukraine Victor Yuschenko announced that in a week he was going to meet Alyaksandr Lukashenka. But the meeting didn’t happen in a week. Now Lukashenka is in Sochi. on vacation. This week Yuschenko participated in the celebration of Shevchenko’s birthday and is going to Denmark.

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12 March coordinator of the “Tuzin Gitou”project Syargei Budkin, concert organizer Pavel Kashirin and lawyer Valyantsin Stsefanovich turned to the department of culture of the Minsk executive committee for getting the permission for the “Krama” group concert.

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Alexander Sakkers, Mayor of the city of Eindhoven (The Netherlands) will not come to Belarus because human rights are violated in this country. The council of the city of Eindhoven decided so on Monday. The capital of Belarus, Minsk has a twinning relationship with Eindhoven since 1995. Mayor Sakkers’ visit had been planned in May, the Labour Party (PvdA) web resource informed the Charter’97.

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The leader of the republican public association of entrepreneurs “Perspektiva” Anatol Shumchanka has refused to take part in the seminar “Exploring the opportunities for Belarus within the European Neighbourhood Policy” on March 15 in Minsk under the chairmanship of a vice speaker of the lower chamber of illegitimate Belarusian “parliament” Syarhei Zabalotets and the head of the PA OSCE working group on Belarus Uta Zapf. “I do not find it expedient to hold a seminar like this under the OSCE aegis. Today Belarusian vendors are to talk with each other, there is no dialogue with the regime. Nobody is listening to us. The authorities are doing everything they want, paying no attention to vendors’ problems,” told Anatol Shumchanka to the Charter’97 press-center.

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13 March leadership of the Union of Belarusian writers (UBW) adopted an appeal regarding the amendments to school syllabi on the Belarusian literature envisaged by the Belarusian authorities, BelaPAN informs .The appeal to citizens of the country, teachers, literature scientists and parents of Belarusian schoolchildren dwells on preparation to ”large- scale ideological” revision of the school syllabi on the Belarusian literature”.

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A former deputy and a political prisoner Syarhei Skrabets has been denied a stamp in the passport allowing to go abroad. The politician has learnt about that on March 14 in the department of citizenship and migration of Pershamajski district of Minsk.

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On March 14 a mother of the young activist Dzyanis Dzyanisau and two representatives of a human rights center “Viasna” Leanid Svetsik have visited Vitsebsk remand prison No. 2 and brought food and independent newspapers to the prisoner, Radio Racyja informs.

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Hrodna authorities have denied permission to the democratic forces for holding a meeting on March 19. It has been stated in the answer of the executive committee that the organisers of the rally would not be able to “organize the event and secure on order and security of citizens”. Initiators of the meeting in Hrodna find this answer ungrounded.

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A former minister of foreign affairs of Belarus, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the 12th convocation, an Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Belarus Mikhail Marynich has refused to take part in the seminar “Exploring the opportunities for Belarus within the European Neighbourhood Policy” on March 15 in Minsk under the chairmanship of a vice speaker of the lower chamber of illegitimate Belarusian “parliament” Syarhei Zabalotets and the head of the PA OSCE working group on Belarus Uta Zapf. A well-known and respected politician has explained his position to the Charter’97 press-center: “Today, when the regime continues to keep in prisons political prisoners – Alyaksandr Kazulin, Zmitser Dashkevich, Mikola Statkevich, Paval Sevyarynets and other our friends, when young activists are persecuted for their active citizenship, when on the eve of Uta Zapf’s visit leaders of oppositional parties are detained, one shouldn’t take part in such questionable events. As a dormer political prisoner I know very well how those in prisons now need our solidarity and fidelity to principle,” Mikhail Marynich said.

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