CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
December 20, 2001
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml
----------------------------------------------------------------
BELARUSIAN REGIME STRETCHES HANDS TO WROCLAU
NASHA SVABODA

PERSECUTION OF THE TOP OFFICIALS OF THE LARGEST BELARUSIAN STATE ENTERPRISES
DOES NOT WEAKEN. ON DECEMBER 21 THE COURT IN THE POLISH CITY OF WROCLAU A CASE
ON EXTRADITION TO BELARUS OF BELARUSIAN CITIZEN ALYAXANDAR JAKAULEU WOULD BE
CONSIDERED. HE WAS ARRESTED BY THE POLISH POLICE ON NOVEMBER 27 UNDER BELARUSIAN
WRIT DATED BY APRIL OF THIS YEAR. POLISH AUTHORITIES DID NOT HURRY WITH THE ARREST,
EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW WELL HIS WHEREABOUTS, AS JAKAULEU RECEIVED A RIGHT FOR
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE. BUT NOW THE COURT IS IN A RUSH OBVIOUSLY: IN LESS THAN A
MONTH AFTER JAKAULEUS ARREST THE COURT IS GOING TO DECIDE ON HIS EXTRADITION.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SUSPECTS UNDER CHIGIRS CASE EXPOSED TO TORTURES
Case consideration of a lawsuit, filed against Alexander Chigir (son of a former
Belarusian Premier Mikhail Chigir), Anton Yashin and Dmitry Yutskevich was opened
on December 19 in the Leninsky district court of Minsk. The defendants pleaded
not guilty. Two of them  Anton Yashin and Dmitry Yutskevich  claimed they had
signed the confession plea under the strong physical and psychological pressure.
During the interrogation they detailed the arbitrary methods, applied against
them.
----------------------------------------------------------------
BELARUSIAN REGIME STRETCHES HANDS TO WROCLAU
Nasha Svaboda
Persecution of the top officials of the largest Belarusian state enterprises
does not weaken. On December 21 the court in the Polish city of Wroclau a case
on extradition to Belarus of Belarusian citizen Alyaxandar Jakauleu would be
considered. He was arrested by the Polish police on November 27 under Belarusian
writ dated by April of this year. Polish authorities did not hurry with the arrest,
even though they knew well his whereabouts, as Jakauleu received a right for
temporary residence. But now the court is in a rush obviously: in less than a
month after Jakauleus arrest the court is going to decide on his extradition.
Such proceedings usually last for months, and the Polish courts do not start
to consider extradiction of Belarusains until the Belarusian side submits all
the materials of the case. The present situation in Belarus and loud cases on
extradition of Belarusian businessmen persecuted by Belarusian regime are well
known in this country. In cases of Alyaxandar Pupeika and Leanid Volk rejected
to extradite them to Belarus. This summer human rights defenders publicized their
opinion that an agreement on legal mutual help signed before should be restricted.
Polish community was shocked by the fact tat Belarusian authoritarian regime
persecutes its opponents and uses Poland for its ends thanks to international
pacts.
----------------------------------------------------------------
WOMEN STRIVING TO MEET LUKASHENKO PLACED UNDER 10-DAY ARREST
Yesterday four Bobruisk female residents went for an unsanctioned picket of protest
in front of Alexander Lukashenkos administration in Minsk. The women demanded
that the authorities reinstate them at their jobs and get them back their places
in line for apartments, where they stood for 15-16 years. For running this action
the ladies were sentenced to a ten-days arrest and fined 1,5mln rubles.
----------------------------------------------------------------
EX-PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE BLAMES BELARUS OVER ARMS SALES TO THE BALKANS
This week the Ukrainian TV company ICTV reported about the illicit arms deals,
brokered by official Belarus. Previously, the newspaper Kievsky Telegraph published
the findings of the investigation, conducted by the Turin procuracy, in charge
of investigating into the illicit international arms sales business. The Ukrainian
first president Leonid Kravchuk, seeking to justify his country, accused Belarus
of selling weapons to the Balkans.
----------------------------------------------------------------
HANS-GEORG WIECK: TODAYS REGIME IN BELARUS IS AUTHORITARIAN
In the end of December, after a four-year work in Minsk, head of the OSCE mission
in Belarus Hans-Georg Wieck leaves Belarus. The day before his departure the
diplomat whom A.Lukashenka repeatedly accused of backing opposition and interference
with internal countrys affairs, gave an interview to influential Russian newspaper
IZVESTIYA.
----------------------------------------------------------------
FREEDOM HOUSE CALLS BELARUS NON-FREE STATE
The influential American human rights watchdog Freedom House in its 2001 Report
listed Belarus, along with such rogues as Iran and Iraq, among the countries,
whose citizens have no political or civil rights. In its annual report Freedom
in the world-2001 the organization divides the countries into three categories:
free, partially free and not free.
----------------------------------------------------------------
EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR THE MEDIA PUBLISHES FINAL REPORT ON MONITORING MEDIA COVERAGE
OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN BELARUS SEPTEMBER 2001
The final report on the monitoring was published today. These are some of the
most important findings: The incumbent president, Alexander Lukashenko, dominated
election coverage on the state television channel BT, receiving 58% of the output
devoted to all candidates. His dominance of BT news programmes was even more
pronounced: he received 85% of the total time devoted to the candidates.
----------------------------------------------------------------
LUKASHENKO OFFERS COMPLEX PRIVATIZATION TOOL
A very compound mechanism of privatizing the companies will be shortly introduced
in Belarus  to do this they will need the permission of the companies personnel
and leadership, as well as of the district, regional and national authorities.
RIA Novosti quotes Lukashenko as saying this at the meeting, dedicated to the
transformation of the petroleum enterprises into the joint-stock. Lukashenko
pledged there would be no privatization for privatizations sake. It will be
carried out transparently and openly, he underscored. The president added that
every companys case would be handled individually. The right to engage in privatization
will be granted to those investors, who possess the necessary raw resources for
the market.
----------------------------------------------------------------
RUSSIAN TRADE UNIONISTS BEG PUTIN TO LAY PRESSURE ON LUKASHENKO
The executive council of the Federation of independent trade unions of Russia
addressed the Russian president, government and parliament with a call to exert
pressure on the Belarusian authorities in order to get them cancel the ruling
#1804 On some measures to protect trade union members and terminate the violation
of trade unions rights.
----------------------------------------------------------------
FTU CHAIR PETITIONS CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Chairman of the Federation of Belarusian trade unions Vladimir Goncharik forwarded
to the chairman of the Belarusian Constitutional Court Grygory Vasilevich a letter
with a request to check out whether the decree On some measures to protect trade
union members fully complies with the countrys Constitution.
----------------------------------------------------------------
INTELLIGENTSIA PAID MISERABLE WAGES
www.praca.by
The average salary in the Vitebsk region in October this year amounted to 138074
rubles. Budget workers, along with the peasants are placed on the bottom of the
salary payment list. While the teachers, who sometimes work in two shifts, received
in October 126183 thousand rubles ($78,8), the kindergarten workers got twice
as little. The average October salary in healthcare constituted 98767 rubles.
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOMSELMASH TURNS INTO RUSBELSELMASH
Russian holding Metalloinvest, agricultural company Stoylenskaya Niva, Impex-Bank
and the Belarusian enterprise Gomselmash act as the co-founders of the joint
Russian-Belarusian company Rusbelselmash. As reported by the weekly Expert,
the project sets forth the construction of the trade palace and creation of the
dealers network, while next year they will embark on the supplies of spare parts
for the manufacture process. In future they esteem possible to widen the spectrum
of participants by drawing other Belarusian companies, such as Lidaselmash
and Bobrusikselmash into the business
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
December 20, 2001
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml