Today for the first time Alyaksandr Lukashenka appeared in public. And from the very start he started with slashing attacks against opposition, which marked Freedom Day last week. Demonstrators who took to the streets on March 25 in Minsk, he called “a combat detachment that was marching around the city”, and stated that he is to see into a matter of ambassadors who were present at that rally, as “in no other country of the world ambassadors are allowed to take part in illegal actions”.

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The BNF Party convenes the organizing committee of the Way of Chernobyl. According to deputy chairman of the BNF Party Viktar Ivashkevich the organizing committee to be convened on he basis of the members of the 25 March’s organizing committee but it is to be significantly expanded by new members.

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Actions dedicated to the Day of Freedom celebration (25 March 1918 the People’s Republic of Belarus was founded) and anniversary of the last year’s protests. 24 March demonstration of the Ploscha documentary film of Yuri Khaschevatsky as well as the solidarity concert of the Slovak singer Petra Jordan took place. The public event was of great success .All in all; the film demonstration and the concert were attended by over 70 people.

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Today six political prisoners are to be released. People were detained preventively before March 25. All of them were charged with petty hooliganism. Pin the court policemen stated that oppositionists used foul language. Yesterday youth activists Alyaksei Shydlouski and Zmitser Fedaruk were released.

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Today during interrogations an activist of the “Young Front” Zmitser Fedaruk has been presented accusation in participation in an unregistered organization, Radio Svaboda informs. Fedaruk had to give a written undertaking not to leave the place.

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On March 27 the court of Savetski district of Homel examined an administrative case of Uladzimir Katsora. A deputy chairman of Homel regional branch of the United Civil party and a coordinator of the campaign “For Freedom!” has been sentenced to a fine of 5 basic units and arrested for 5 days.

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Ukraine citizen, student of the Kiev University Nasta Zhukava was detained together with Alyaksey Ruban and Anton Piyavi by the militiamen 24 March. No leaflets were found in her knapsack. That was stated in the records made by the militiamen. But the girl was convicted of distributing the published matter calling for public disorder and Nasta was arrested for 3 days. On the way to the station Nasta shared her impressions on her custody conditions with the Radio Svaboda:

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On 25th March 2007, the celebrations of the “Day of Will“ – the day of independence of the People´s Republic of Belarus in 1918 – took place in Minsk. In the context of this event around 70 representatives of Belarusian civic initiatives were arrested. Some were attacked and beaten by Police order forces of the Lukashenko´s regime.

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On March 27 a youth leader Alyaksei Shydlouski was released from a special detention facility in Akrestsin Street. The activist had been detained by policemen on the eve of Freedom Day. “I had been detained many times, but I faced such brassy impudence of policemen for the first time. They detained me near my own front door and said that I was to visit a police department “for 20 minutes”. When we come to the police department, I was immediately told: “take off your belt, shoe strings, watch,” Alyaksei Shydlouski said to the Charter’97 press-center.

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Today Alyaksandr Lukashenka is going to visit the Minsk vegetable factory; the BELTA was reported by the press service of the head of the state. It is to be mentioned that the leader of Belarus have not appeared to the public for 17 days, all his meetings and foreign visits having been cancelled. Over this period of time his press service has been reporting in its generally accepted manner that ”he has been working with the documents”.

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Chairman of the “Perspektiva” union of entrepreneurs Anatol Shumchanka announced 27 March that they faced the problems with holding their forums envisaged for the April-May period. The Perspektiva was to convene its forums in Vitsebsk, Brest and Gomel. The first among those was to be the ”Perspectives of Entrepreneurship in Belarus” in Vitebsk 16 April.

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Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has expressed a hope that processes of democratization are to be speeded up in Belarus. “We hope that the process of democratization of Belarusian society would be speeded up. When the system of government would be changed? We think that it would be in the near future, but it’s hard to say when exactly, I am not a predictor,” told Viktor Yanukovych on March 27 after a conversation with the chairman of the European parliament Hans-Gerd Poettering.

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