CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
December 4, 2001
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml
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BELARUS  EUROPES ANTI-MODEL
Belarus of today is an anti-model for Europes development,  said leading
specialist for Belarus of the Berlin Foundation for science and politics doctor
Heintz Timmerman. Present Belarusian leadership, notes the prominent German expert,
will soon encounter problems even with Russia, whose foreign policy is becoming
more west-oriented.
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HANS-GEORG WIECK ON NOMENKLATURA PURGES IN BELARUS
The head of the Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus Hans-Georg Wieck said
that purges under way now in Belarus, the criminal proceedings against top
officers in the economic administration, who collaborated with the regime opponents
in the presidential campaign, cause concern. As said by Wieck, such purges highlight
the polarity of the country and of the civil society. He also remarked that AMG
OSCE group receives information about numerous facts of intimidation those who
participated in opposition activities.
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KALUGIN FACES ONE CHARGE LESS, NEW DIRECTOR TO BE APPOINTED AT ATLANT
The investigators lifted an indictment against Kalugin of using phony payment
documents, but left another three. Atlant directors case was passed from the
Minsk city into the National department of financial research. Head of the departments
investigative committee Gennady Agaponenko was placed in charge of the case,
which testifies to the extreme seriousness of the matter. The official refuses
to contact to journalists, referring to the confidentiality of investigation.
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ANTI-CONSTITUTIONAL ACT
BDG
The first impression one gets from reading the Constitutional act (at Soyuz-Info
web-page) is this: at last, after agonizing integration processes the lawyers
found a civilized legal base to include Belarus into the composition of Russian
Federation. On one hand, the project proclaims the equality of both countries.
It also reads that the key goal of the new state formation is the creation of
conditions for the decent lives of citizens and protection of their rights. Meantime,
from other projects provisions it gets clear that the union states structures
will dictate their conditions to the unions subjects. Of course, nobody would
dare dictate anything to Russia. Putin will never tolerate commands from some
inter-state bodies.
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ACCUSED HOMEL MEDICAL INSTITUTE HEADS ADDRESSED PROTESTS TO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTES
Former Homel Medical Institute heads Professor Yuri Bandazheusky and senior lecturer
Uladzimir Raukou, who were sentenced by a Military board of the Supreme Court
to eight years of imprisonment for corruption, filed complaints to a Committee
on Human Rights in the Board of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (Geneva) and International Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg). In the
complaints prepared by lawyers of the convicted they tell that in this case significant
violations of criminal and legal procedure took place, that prevented the investigators
to consider the case comprehensively, fully and objectively.
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ALYAXANDAR LUKASHENKA KNEW GENERAL ROKHLIN WAS TO BE KILLED
Gazeta.ru
Court proceedings on the case of General Lev Rokhlins murder resumed in the
Naro-Fominsk court behind the closed doors. Tamara Rokhlina is prisoner at the
bar again. She was found guilty a year ago, but than the case was directed to
retrial. And it is possible that A.Lukashenka would become of the witnesses.
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FREEDOM MARCH-1 PROTESTERS TO BE TRIED IN THEIR ABSENCE
Court proceedings over four participants of the Freedom March-1 (October 17,
1999)  German Sushkevich, Gleb Dogel, Andrei Volobuev and Anton Lazarev  charged
with violating art.186/3 of the Criminal law will be held December 6 in the Minsk
city court. This article defines responsibility for organizing or active participation
in group actions, violating public order.
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RAKHMANKOS DEPRIVATION OF MPS IMMUNITY TO BE CONSIDERED DEC.13-14
At the next parliamentary plenary session, to be held on December 13 or 14, the
deputies will decide whether they should give their consent to the prosecutor
general on the deprivation of the MPs immunity of the former head of the Belarusian
railroad department Viktor Rakhmanko, reports BelaPAN from the parliaments information
service. The date of the next session had to be determined on December 3 by the
presidium of the Republic Council, but the session was shifted to Wednesday,
December 5.
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KUROPATY DEFENDER FINED 100T RUBLES
Minsk courts keep trying the Kuropaty defenders. The Sovietsky district court
of Minsk fined the Youth Front member Roman Kazakevich 100,000 rubles (equivalent
of $75). Trial over Sergei Popkov didnt result in a verdict, as far as police
witnesses never turned up. Today the process against him will resume.
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INVESTIGATION INTO LUKASHENKOS DEFAMATION PROLONGED
Rechitsa district procuracy extended for another two months the term of the criminal
investigation into the defamation of presidents honor, allegedly committed by
the local resident Natalya Brel, BelaPAN was told December 3 by the womans attorney
Dmitry Ivanishko. On August 30 the post-graduate student of the Institute of
history of the National Academy of Sciences Natalya Brel congratulated Lukashenko
with his birthday, having passed him through mass media a box with the objects,
which are necessary for the Belarusians: a rope and a soap.
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PERSECUTION OF KRYCHEV JOURNALISTS HALTED
Criminal persecution of correspondents of the independent newspaper from Krychev
Volny Gorod Sergei Nerovny, Vadim Stefanenko and Nikolai Matorenko has been
stopped again, BelaPAN was told December 3 by Stefanenko.
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ASSOCIATION OF BELARUSIAN STUDENTS SHUT
Supreme Court judge Nikolai Bobkov satisfied the petition of the Justice Ministry
and ruled to liquidate the Association of Belarusian Students. The judge claims
that the student organization regularly violated domestic laws and, in particular,
was involved in political affairs, which it ought not to.
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HEAD OF BREST HELSINKI COMMITTEE FIRED
Head of the Brest Helsinki Committee Igor Maslovsky was sacked today. This is
in no wise the first incident when members of opposition political parties and
public associations are deprived of their right to work in the Brest State University.
The reason for the Maslovskys dismissal was his failure to get elected to the
post he currently occupies. That was the decision of the scholarly council of
the BSU geographic department.
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MOSTY FREE TRADE UNION CHAIR MADE JOBLESS
Valery Eromenchuk, chairman of the Free trade union at the Samana Plus woodworking
company, was dismissed from job. The company directors order reads that the
man was fired due to professional unfitness. According to the worker himself,
he has the highest qualification and a few years of experience as electrician,
so the dismissal can be explained by his trade union activism.
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BORDIN DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM UNION TV
The state secretary of the Russia-Belarus union Pavel Borodin declared that he
knows nothing about the plans to launch a union TV at the facilities of the
popular TV-6 channel, which the court ruled to close down a while ago.
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
December 4, 2001
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml