CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 25, 2002
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml
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TRIAL FOR LUKASHENKAS MASKS TO RESUME FEB.26

Unprecedented for Belarus trial over the four ZUBR movement activists Mikhail
Kiselev, Maksim Potapchik, Alyaxandar Pavlovich, Denis Senokosov and Dmitry Shalashkov
will continue tomorrow in the Shklov district court of Minsk. Five guys may get
three years of jail for wearing masks of Europes sole remaining dictator. The
authorities are hunting down ZUBRs since August last year when they held in the
Gorodets village (once presided by Lukashenka) a performance from the Time to
choose! series. The blokes put on their faces mustached masks and cruised around
Shklovs stores, where they ran a pre-election agitation among the customers,
promising them $100 wages, price-decrease, jail for all thieves, businessmen
and all those, who dont cast their votes for their fellow-countryman. The action
was thwarted by the law-enforcers, who for no reason felt that the face on the
mask belonged to the presidential candidate Lukashenka.
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PUBLIC PROSECUTORS OFFICE HAVE NO RIGHT TO CONTROL PROFITS FROM ARMS TRADE

The chairman of the United Civil Party Anatol Lyabedzka has received an answer
from the Public Prosecutors Office of Belarus to his request to investigate
the fact that the budget does not include information about income from arms
trade. As Radio Svaboda reports, Procurator Kandrusik in his answer informs that
these questions are outside the Public Prosecutors offices competence.
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PROSECUTOR REQUIRES 7 YEARS FOR ALYAXANDAR CHYHIR

Today in the court of the Lenin district of Minsk during pleadings he Public
Prosecutor has required seven years of hard labor colony with confiscation of
the property for Alyaxandar Chyhir, a son of the former Prime Minster. Alyaxandar
Chyhir, Anton Yashyn, Dzmitser Yutskevich are accused of car stealing (Article
205 Part 4 of the Criminal Code of Belarus). The prosecutor suggested eight years
of imprisonment in hard labor colony with confiscation for Yashyn, and 11 years
of colony with confiscation for Yutskevich.
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FORMER HEAD PHYSICIAN OF MINSK HOSPITAL INCARCERATED
BDG

Court of the Moskovsky district of Minsk sentenced former head of the 4th city
clinics Nikolai Krutyanov to five- year imprisonment, finding him guilty of bribery,
embezzlement and power abuse. Chief physician Nikolai Krutyanov was detained
by the Moskovsky police department for economic crimes on June 21, 2001 within
the framework of the so-called operative experiment on offering him a $500 bribe
by the director of the Slav company.
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ACADEMICS SENT ON EXTENDED VACATION LEAVES AT THEIR EXPENSE
Narodnaya Volya

This is an involuntary measure. The budget resources, earmarked for the science
for 2002, can be equated to the amounts in 1995. The National Academy of Sciences
was underpaid this year a sum, which constitutes a five months salary of all
researchers. Out of the allotted funds the Ministry of finances will eat away
another 15% portion. When asked by the leaders of the academic organizations
why this happens, the newly appointed Academy of Sciences president Mikhail Myasnikovich
only shrugged his shoulders  the state simply lacks resources. The NAS administration
found a witty way out of the situation: they simply sent everyone on a holiday
leave.
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MINSK GRAVEYARDS ADMINISTRATION STANDS TRIAL

Leninsky district procuracy of Minsk instituted legal action against the administration
of the Minsk cemetery Vostochnoye. Both the director and the custodian are
indicted for bribery and selling the elite places for burials. At present, we
know of more than 60 facts of the illegal trade in cemetery places.
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USA NOT TO EXTRADITE LAZARENKO, MELNICHENKO TO UKRAINE
UNIAN

USA wont extradite to Ukraine the ex-Prime Minister Pavel Lazarenko and the
former major of the Ukrainian security service Nikolai Melnichenko, as far as
no extradition accord had been signed between Ukraine and the USA, said at the
Saturdays press-conference assistant deputy Secretary of State Steven Pifer.
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HOMELSTEKLO STARTS LABOR DEBATE WITH EMPLOYER

One more trade union organization, Homelsteklo Ltd., decided to start a trade
debate with the administration of their plant. It is the third decision of trade
unions about a debate with employers this week. The analogous decision was made
by miners of Salihorsk (Belaruskalij) and by republican trade union of the
agriculture automobile industry.
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PRICES RISEN BY 2.5% OVER FIRST TWO WEEKS OF FEBRUARY

In 2002 the government and the National Bank predict a price rise by 20-27%.
But in the beginning of the year the prices have started to grow so rapidly,
that the calculations cannot be fulfilled. According to the Ministry of Statistics
and Analysis, in the first two weeks of February the consumer prices have grown
by 2.5%. As compared to the beginning of the year, the prices have grown by 8.8%
(contrasted with 6.9% for the analogous period of the last year).
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HEAD OF MISSION WAITING
Die Tageszeitung

Eberhard Haikens first reaction to the Foreign Ministrys call with a proposal
to head the OSCE mission in Belarus was a sincere surprise. But it didnt take
Haiken much time to consent with the offer. That was a strong impetus to do
something else, a real challenge,  said a 66-year old diplomat. The diplomat
is using the word challenge as far as the head of the OSCE mission in Minsk
is currently in the frontline of events. His predecessor at the post Hans-Georg
Wieck has numerously realized that it was truly so. For instance, the president
of Belarus, using autocratic methods of governance, many times rebuked Wieck
over the power abuse in preparing local observers at the elections. Lukashenka
went as far as to accuse the OSCE representative of alleged training armed guerillas
to overthrow the regime. Wieck had more that once been threatened with banishment.
However, the perspective of joyless and time-consuming disputes with an obstinate
Alyaxandar Lukashenka, nostalgic over the Soviet times, does not frighten Haiken.
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LUKASHENKA EXPRESSES DISAPPROVAL OF USA MILITARY PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA

As said by him, the policy of Washington is aimed at the world domination under
a shield of fight with the axis of evil. In his speech at the solemn ceremony
dedicated to the Day of the Armed Forces and a Defender of the Homeland, Lukashenka
said that the presence of foreign army at the territory of the countries-members
of the Collective Security Treaty couldnt but cause concern of Minsk, Ekho
Moskvy informs.
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STAFF RESHUFFLES IN HEALTHCARE
Narodnaya Volya

Mass staff redundancies are seemingly underway in the healthcare industry. Only
during the last month three Minsk city clinics were deprived of their leaderships.
Three weeks ago they fired a head physician of the 1st Minsk hospital Nikolai
Andreev. They say that representatives of the Minsk committee for healthcare
of the Minsk city hall have numerously called Andreev, urging him to file in
resignation out of his own will.
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BELARUSIAN NOC PURSUES RUNAWAY OLYMPIC ATHLETE

The FBI has found a Belarusian trampoline jumper Andrei Lyskavets on the territory
of the USA. This information was received by the BelaPAN agency on February 24
on the phone from Salt Lake City from the secretary general of the Belarusian
National Olympic committee, chief of the Belarusian mission at the winter Olympic
games Anatol Ivanou. Today a FBI representative has informed me that Lyskavets
was found, but has not specified where. We suppose that it could be California,
-- the chief of the mission said.  The sportsman said that he stays to work
for a couple of months. I asked the FBI agent to give Lyskavets my phone number,
as I want to talk to him. As Ivanou said, he is going to tell Lyskavets about
troubles he might see if he stays after March 28 when the term of his Olympic
accreditation expires.
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RNU MURDERERS SENTENCED

The Minsk city court finished legal proceedings over the two leaders of the right-wing
radical organization Russian National Unity (RNU)  Igor Solar and Konstantin
Dashkevich, charged with killing a 21-year old Maksim Breiner  another RNU member.
Moreover, Dashkevich was also suspected of having committed another murder in
1997 and illicit fire arms deals.
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OFFICIAL MOGILEV BANS WORKERS DISSENT

The Mogilev town hall refused to allow local workers to hold on February 23 a
meeting, a rally and a picket. The workers planned to manifest their protest
against the violation of the labor code. The appeal to the town hall was signed
by the workers of five towns plants. The majority of those, who signed it, represent
a construction trust #12. The signatories protested against the salary delays,
poor working conditions and administrations failure to fulfill collective agreements.
The organizers also demanded to pay out to the Mogilev builders the money, earned
in the Moscow oblast.
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OFFICIAL PRESS UNITED INTO MEDIA HOLDING

Informational media holdings will be created in Belarus  this is a way out
as the Ministry of Information sees it in the current economical situation for
many printed and electronic media,  said the deputy minister of information
Lilia Ananich. Now the question is about creating large informational structures
that should use budget funds more effectively. Reforming of the process of
publishing should be accompanied by merging of some newspapers and magazines.
State subsidies for press will be diminished this year and will make 50-60% of
the last years sum. Thus, the number of newspapers and magazines is to drop
considerably this year.
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BELARUS INCREASES EXPORT TO RUSSIA

Belarusian Embassy in Russia has carried out a consultation on the results of
the last years work with the heads of the regional divisions of the diplomatic
deputation in Ekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Murmansk, Novosibirsk. St.
Petersburg, Tumen, Ufa and Khabarovsk.
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 25, 2002
read the details at www.charter97.org/e/index.phtml