CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January 22, 2002
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml
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WIVES OF REPRESSED BELARUSIAN POLITICIANS ADDRESS PACE
At the session of the Liberals, Democrats and Reformers fraction of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the European Union, Anatol Lyabedzka, leader of the United Civil
Party, voiced the address of the wives of the repressed Belarusian oppositionists
 Irina Krasouskaya, Ludmila Karpenka, Svyatlana Zavadskaya, Olga Zakharenka,
Zinaida Hanchar, Tatsiana Klimova  to the EU Parliamentary Assembly. This document
contains two proposals  for a PACE session in April : to adopt recommendation
to Belarusian authorities to create an independent experts commission on investigation
of loud cases; and to hold hearings on cases of Viktar Hanchar, Yuri Zakharanka,
Anatol Krasousky, Dzmitser Zavadsky and Andrei Klimau at the session of sub-committee
on human rights. Read further the following text of the letter:
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DIRECTORATE OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS GETS MORE SEVERE
In order to protect economic interests of the country and of enterprises, 22.226
actions on charges relating to a sum equal to more than 33 billions roubles were
brought up by the Public prosecutors offices in 2001. More than 20,000 people
were sentenced to administrative, disciplinary or financial accountability. More
than 4,000 criminal cases on the gravest crimes were investigated by the investigation
departments.
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ATLANT DIRECTORS ARREST PROLONGED BY EXTRA 3 MONTHS
BelaPAN quotes Leonid Kalugins lawyer Alexander Pylchenko as saying that police
prolonged by additional three months the detention term of the former Atlants
director, detained on November 21 last year. According to the lawyer, it is
necessary to keep under lock the people, who robbed or killed someone, but not
the director of the plant. Kalugin cant influence the course of the investigation
procedures, for hes no longer a legitimate director. Anyway, they could have
well applied against him such a measure as house arrest, deems the lawyer.
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WIECK DENIED BELARUSIAN VISA
Former head of the OSCE AMG Hans-Georg Wieck, whos currently living in Berlin
and harbors the idea to visit Belarus in the near future, havent received the
entry visa yet, although he had applied for it in the past. Ambassador Wieck
needs visa in order to engage in the first session in Minsk on January 25-26
of the International monitoring council of the Center for European and Trans-Atlantic
research of the European humanitarian university. The German diplomat is a member
of this council. The center itself had been created with the financial support
of the European Commission and the OSCE ODIHR.
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LUKASHENKAS FRIENDS ACCUSED OF ILLEGAL ARMS TRANSIT
As an influential British journal Janes Intelligence Digest informs, the the
separatist Trans-Dniester region has long been regarded as an 'economic black
hole' through which all types of contraband moves: from cigarettes, oil and gas
to weapons. In 1996 the Moldovans issued eight official customs document seals
for use by the region's customs officials.
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LUKASHENKO, JIANG ZEMIN  BUDDIES FOREVER
Alexander Lukashenko and leader of the Chinese National Republic Jiang Zemin
forwarded to each other messages on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of
diplomatic relations between the two states. Lukashenko stressed that the Belarusian-Chinese
relations are dynamically developing in most of the spheres, while the visits
of heads of states to each other set the strategic directions of cooperation
and led the bilateral relations to new heights. The Chinese president, in his
turn, noted that owing to the support by both presidents the cooperation between
Belarus and China is so successful. Jiang Zemin believes that the sides enjoy
similar or common viewpoints on the most important international issues and are
constantly supportive of one another.
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MORDOVIA BUYS BELARUSIAN MACHINERY
Mordovia and the Belarusian companies signed overall 18 contracts on the consignment
of agricultural equipment worth 66mln rubles. IA Rosbalt correspondent reports
that the contracts had been signed by Mordovia within the framework of her cooperation
with a group of the Belarusian companies Jenti. In total, Mordovia will receive
334 machinery units, including 107 dump trucks MAZ, 3 cranes, 110 presses and
100 MTP tractors.
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SWITZERLAND FREEZES ARGENTINA EX-PRESIDENTS ACCOUNTS
Switzerland blocked the bank accounts, belonging to the former Argentina president
Karlos Menem, reported the Geneva prosecutor Bernard Bertossa. According to the
prosecutor, the accounts, worth $10mln, were arrested in an operation, unleashed
in order to find money, laundered by high-ranking politicians from Argentina.
The countrys authorities charge Menem with illegal enrichment.
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TV-6 REPLACED BY PIRATES CLIPS, MIDEMS NEWS
Three minutes after the disconnection of the Russian TV-6 channel, Belarus launched
into air the First musical channel. Instead of the popular Russian channel,
which alone more or less objectively covered the events in Belarus, our viewers
will have to watch foreign and Russian clips, received by the Dobrovideniye
Ltd in a pirates way. TV-6 closure forced the company to intensify the process
of expanding the first musical channel on the TV-6 frequencies. A 17-hour per
day air time of the musical channel was supposed to start not until March 1.
While the TV-6 correspondent in Minsk Maria Malinovskaya still refuses to comment
on the shutdown of the Russian channel, referring to the Moscow-hosted meeting
of the TV-6 leadership, which is underway now, the director of Dobrovideniye
Valery Kravchuk gladly told Charter97 press-center that the company wasnt taken
aback by the closure. Moreover, Valery Kravchuk happily declared that shortly
they would also run MIDEMs news instead of the TV-6 ones. The only problem,
which is quite serious by the way and which Dobrovideniye has been seeking
to solve since early hours of the morning, is what they should do with the commercials.
The clients, which paid for advertisements, planned to be given a way larger
audience, which by far exceeds that of a musical channel.
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LUKASHENKOS REGIME REMAINS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE SAYS SCHIEDER
The Austrian Socialist Peter Schieder was elected President of the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly on Monday, 21st January. Mr Schieder succeeds the
British Lord Russell-Johnston. In his inaugural speech in Strasbourg the new
president said: "Belarus remains a problem. On the one hand, the attitude of
the presidential regime has not changed and remains totally unacceptable in terms
of democratic and human rights standards. On the other hand, isolation does little
to change the status quo. The Assembly will have to pursue its delicate diplomatic
balancing act, between support for progressive forces in Belarus and the need
to avoid condoning the dictatorial attitude of the present regime."
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TV-6 JOURNALISTS SILENCED
Overnight January 21-22, 35 minutes before the end of the program Solovyinaya
Noch there came into legal force the order of the Minister of press Mikhail
Lesin on switching off the TV-6 broadcasting. The TV screens turned blank, while
those, who were watching the channel via satellite, abroad and in some Russian
regions read the inscription Weve been disconnected from air. The authorities
ordered to cut off the TV-6 offices from electricity, phones and Internet. By
this decisive act the authorities finally got rid of the gifted journalistic
crew (as noted by Putin) with Evgeny Kiselev at the head. The whole confrontation
between them and the authorities lasted for almost three years.
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LUKASHENKA PRESCRIBED BRAINWASHING
- its the title of an article published by a Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung,
and we would like to acquaint you with its gist.
It looks like Belarusian leader personally made everything possible to amuse
his people in the long evenings, -- the author of the article Thomas Roser wrights.
This decisive man with a coquettish lock across his baldhead, constantly offers
TV viewers a certain variety on TV controlled by him.
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WITNESSES ON ZAVADSKYS CASE NEVER SHOW UP IN COURT
For some unclear reasons the key witnesses on ORT cameraman Dmitry Zavadskys
disappearance case never showed up in court. The lawyers believe that witnesses
arent willing to give testimony which would contradict the investigation. There
unexpectedly emerged difficulties in the court proceedings over Valery Ignatovich
and his accomplices. Today the judges intended to find out the origin of the
spade, which had been allegedly discovered in Ignatovichs car trunk, containing
fragments of Dmitrys Zavadskys biological material.
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OSCE AMG DESTINY DISCUSSED IN LISBON
Two-day session of the OSCE Troika (Foreign Ministers of Romania, Portugal and
Netherlands) was opened in Lisbon. The event attracted heads of the field missions
of OSCE, including Michel Rivalye from Minsk. Ahead of the Lisbon meeting former
head of the OSCE in Belarus Hans-Georg Wieck said that he doubts that his successor
at the post would eventually be granted Belarusian entry visa. As for now, the
OSCE AMG in Belarus is represented at the Lisbon meeting by its acting chair
Rivalye, who once served as Wiecks deputy. The official told Radio Svaboda that
they would discuss the Belarusian issue in Lisbon.
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SIX BELARUSIAN COMPANIES PUT ON SALE
Potential bidders to purchase 6 Belarusian oil refineries (Azot, Polimir, Belshina,
Naftan, Khimvolokno from Mogilev and Khimvolokno from Svetlogorsk) began discussing
the concrete ways of their involvement in the privatization of the Belarusian
companies.
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ILO CALLS ON LUKASHENKO TO GIVE UP ANTI-TRADE UNION PRACTICES
Speaker of the workers group in the ILO Committee for the freedom of associations,
deputy chair of this organization Ursula Engelen-Kefer and the chairman of the
Federation of free trade unions of Russia, deputy chair of the Russian-Belarusian
trade union coordination center Mikhail Shmakov, addressed Alexander Lukashenko
with an open letter. Read below the full text of their address.
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EFFECTS OF TRADE UNION DUES PAYMENT BAR
www.praca.by
Prohibiting paying of trade union dues through accounts departments of the enterprises,
the government caused problems for librarians, staff of clubs and sport schools.
More than 7.5 thousands of workers of clubs for children, libraries, sport schools
were supported by the trade union funds. Now trade union federation has no money
to support these institutions, to pay salaries. The authorities have to understand
that now they are responsible for these 7.5 thousands people and must sponsor
them from local funds or find them other jobs.
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BALTIKA PRESSED DOWN OVER BELARUSIAN RED TAPE
The destiny of the investment project of the Baltika and Krynitsa breweries
remains undetermined. It was expected that the investment agreement between the
two joint stock companies would be signed in mid-December last year. This never
happened though.
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January 22, 2002
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml