Mailing List Service Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE January 25, 2002 read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml ---------------------------------------------------------------- CRIMINAL LAWSUIT BROUGHT AGAINST ZUBR MOVEMENT PRESS-SECRETARY Legal action was instituted against the ZUBR movements press-secretary Alexander Otroschenkov by the Minsk procuracy. On January 24 the law-enforcers visited his parents apartment. As far as Alexander doesnt live with his parents, they simply informed them that their son is charged with violating art.368 of the Criminal Code (defaming the president of Belarus). ---------------------------------------------------------------- OSCE PA DELEGATIONS MINSK VISIT CANCELLED Delegation of the special working group for Belarus of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly with Bundestags deputy Uta Tsapf at the head, wont be coming to Minsk. OSCE PA cancelled this visit. The delegation was supposed to arrive in Belarus in early February in order to inspect the country home situation on the spot. On January 22 the Minister for foreign affairs Mikhail Khvostov forwarded to Uta Tsapf a special message, in which he underscored that he greatly appreciates her coming and an opportunity to meet with him. However, the next day the OSCE PA head Adrian Severin, speaking at the PACE session, said that the delegation cancels its visit, as far as the Belarusian authorities failed to ensure the necessary conditions for it. On January 25 the German radio-station Deutche Welle reported that OSCE PA changed its mind for two main reasons. Firstly, because the authorities wished the visits preparation to take place without the involvement of the OSCE AMG in Minsk. And secondly, they demanded that the OSCE Minsk people must not accompany the delegation during its mission. OSCE considered these conditions to be unacceptable. ---------------------------------------------------------------- ASPHALT INSTEAD OF COMMEMORATION RESPEKT Following the presidential elections in Belarus the countrys hottest political subject became the enlargement and modernization of a few kilometers long Minsk beltway. The motorway was designed to lead the transport flows away from the suburban districts, thus relieving the traffic flow at the major highways. However, over the recent couple of months a wide public resistance fought against the road works. The road lies through the place, called Kuropaty, where in thirties the Stalins regime killed and buried thousands of innocent people. ---------------------------------------------------------------- BIG LAUNDRY Dyen Five Minsk regional councils officials have been dismissed from their posts. Among them are the charge daffaires Fedor Shpartov, head of the department for administrative bodies Nikolai Morozov, head of the department for control and record keeping Igor Migas, head of the Ministry of Finances department for revision and control Valery Morozov, head of the housing construction and development department Oleg Kruglikov, deputy chair of the department for emergency situations, housing and public utilities problems Ivan Korobko. This news was voiced at the councils session on Monday by its chairman Nikolai Domashkevich. The dismissals followed shortly after the councils leadership paid a visit on Friday to Alexander Lukashenko. ---------------------------------------------------------------- STATE CUSTOMS COMMITTEE STARTS STAFF PURGES Headship of the State Customs Committee of Belarus is set to make stronger the subdivisions of internal security and attract KGB and Interior Ministry officers to reinforce the fight for purity of the staff of the customs institutions. It was said by the chairman of the State Customs Committee Alyaxandar Shpileusky at a press conference in Minsk on January 24. I do not see any problems in the fact that a crime committed by a customs officer is revealed by KGB or Interior Ministry officer or frontier guard, he underlined. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TRADE UNIONS ARE NOT READY FOR ACTIVE MEASURES Participants of the republican consultation of the trade union committees of the largest enterprises that took place on January 24, could not agree on the further actions of the Belarusian Trade Union Federation on annulment of decree from December 14, 2001. As said by Frants Vitko, Chairman of the Belarusian Trade Union Federation, there are two points of view on this matter. Part of the members of the federation believes that to annul this decree active forms of protest should be used. However, the majority of the heads of the local trade union branches still hope to solve this problem by dialogue with authorities. However, BTF head admits that in spite of numerous addresses of the Federation to the leadership of the country, there was no response from them. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TEACHERS PROTEST POVERTY AND ANTI-TRADE UNION POLICIES The protest rally of teachers and activists of the educational trade union against the arbitrariness of the Belarusian authorities took place earlier today in Minsk. Around 100 people with raised banners in hands came to the Bangalor square of Minsk to express their utter discontent over the December decision of the Belarusian Cabinet, which forbade the centralized transfer of trade union dues, as well as over the labor conditions, imposed on teachers. As claimed by the assembled protesters, the official anti-trade union actions are caused by unfavorable tendencies in the national economy, owing to which the year 2002 will witness an escalation of social tensions. ---------------------------------------------------------------- LUKASHENKO SELLS OUT OIL REFINERIES Alexander Lukashenko received the governments report on privatizing the petroleum complexs enterprises and turning them into joint stock. Interfax was told by the Belneftehim concern leader Ivan Bambiza that the transformations are caused by the demands, brought forth by the president: the control stock has to stay with the president for the time being. At the same time the potential partners come up with a few technical conditions, such as the companies development with the preservation of their profile, increase in the production of commodity via advanced technologies, coordinating their own investment proposals on modernization and reconstruction with the government. Moreover, preference must be given to the raw materials, produced on the territory of our country, stressed Bambiza. Among the companies on stock are Naftan, Polimir, Azot, Belshina, Mogilev and Svetlogorsk Himvolokno plants. ---------------------------------------------------------------- BALTIKA PUTS KRYNITSA RECONSTRUCTION ON HALT Russian brewery Krynitsa ceased all works on reconstructing the Minsk Krynitsa brewery and withdrew all their specialists, reports Interfax. The reason for that was the delay in handing over to Baltika a control stock: 50% plus one share. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MORE THAN ONE THIRD OF BELARUSIAN ENTERPRISES ARE LOSS-MAKING In 2001 35.5% of Belarusian manufacturing enterprises of Belarus were loss-making, said Frants Vitko, Chairman of the Belarusian Trade Union Federation at briefing on January 24 in Minsk. It is the worst resilt of the year in the last four your years. As said by F.Vitko, in 1998 there were 16.2% of unprofitable manufacturing enterprises in Belarus, in 1999 17.1%, and in 2000 23.4%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- US SENATOR CAMPBELL RINGS ALARM BELLS IN CONGRESS OVER BELARUS ARMS SUPPLIES TO TERRORISTS The US Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, chairman of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) addressed the Congress on January with a statement on Belarus. Following you may read its full text: ---------------------------------------------------------------- WALTER SCHWIMER: BELARUS ACCESSION TO COE LIES THRU SETTING UP COMMISSION FOR DISAPPEARANCES UCP leader Anatoly Lebedko met in Strasbourg the Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimer. The sides discussed the situation in Belarus, along with the perspectives of its further relations with the Council of Europe and a possibility to hold PACE hearings on political disappearances of Viktor Gonchar, Yuri Zakharenko, Anatoly Krasovsky and Dmitry Zavadsky, as well as to include the young people from Belarus into various training CoE programs. In course of their meeting Walter Schwimer declared: Belarus road to the Council of Europe lies through changing the political climate in the country, releasing Andrei Klimov, setting up commission to investigate into disappearances with the involvement of foreign experts, ensuring oppositions access to state media, enlarging the parliaments functions and canceling capital punishment. ---------------------------------------------------------------- CASE OF CHYHIR JR. COMES TO NOTHING At the proceedings on the case of Alaxandar Chyhir evidence was presented that according to defense, ruins the version of the investigators. Ruslan Sakalou, a welder, witnessed yesterday in court. It was the welder who on A.Chyhirs request had installed a numbered part from one vehicle to another, allegedly stolen by Chyhir. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SITUATION WITH BELARUSIAN MASS MEDIA DISCUSSED IN STRASBOURG A winter Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe session ends in Strasbourg. Yesterday Committee on Education, Culture and Mass Media discussed situation with mass media in Belarus. This discussion stirred up a great interest of MPs, human rights watchdogs and unions of journalists. Five independent journalists and representatives of the Belarusian Association of Journalists headed by its chair Zhanna Litsvina have come from Minsk to Strasbourg. Minister of Information Mikhail Padhainy has also come to Strasbourg. ---------------------------------------------------------------- SERIES OF SCANDALS BY BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES CONTINUES GazetaSNG.ru Official Minsk has surprised international community by its extraordinary actions yet again. This time the former head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group Hans-Georg Wieck, who left the country as his four-year term of office ended, was refused to get entry visa. Thus, Belarusian authorities continue the list of scandals started in 1997. We would like to remind that at that time Lukashenka declared at one of the consultations said that he know exactly what the Ambassadors of foreign countries say when meeting at the building of British mission in Minsk. ---------------------------------------------------------------- DEFAMATION LAWSUIT UNDERWAY Rechitsa procuracy allowed the defendant Natalya Brel and her attorney Dmitry Ivanishko to familiarize themselves with the results of the lawsuit, opened against the woman for alleged defaming the presidents honor. ---------------------------------------------------------------- COURT LETS POLICE KEEP FOR THEMSELVES LETS SAY NO TO A FOOL! T-SHIRTS Mogilev court considered the action, brought by the chairman of the Free trade union of the Zenith plant Alexander Korolev against the law-enforcers from the Central district police station of Mogilev. Korolev demanded that they return to him a few hundred T-shirts with words Lets Say No to a Fool, seized from him last August. ---------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL BANK WONT PENALIZE BANKS FOR FAILING NEW NORM The National Bank of Belarus, which set on January 1, 2002 the minimum limit of capital for banks, working with the population at the level of 10 euros, wont revoke licenses from small and middle-sized banks, as it previously pledged to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE January 25, 2002 read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=media.charter97 http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com