The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE January 20, 2003 www.charter97.org --------------------------------------------------------- MINSK WELCOMES PUTIN WITH ANTI-RUSSIAN PROTESTS 11:47 20/01/2003 Yesterday the Russian president Vladimir Putin arrived in Minsk in order to engage in the session of the Supreme state council of the "Union state", which was supposed to take place in the afternoon. Yesterday all Minsk police were operating in an emergency regime. They stopped traffic on two main prospects of Minsk to ease movement of the presidential cortege. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/putin --------------------------------------------------------- RUSSIA DEMANDS FROM BELARUS INTRODUCTION OF COMMON CURRENCY IN JANUARY 2005 16:42 20/01/2003 Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that on January 1, 2005 Russian ruble must turn into a common means of payment on the territory of Russia and Belarus. RIA "Novosti" correspondent reports that the president of Russia said at the final press-conference that the issue had been discussed at the session of the Supreme State Council. At the same time the Russian leader underscored that this requires serious preparatory activities. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/rub --------------------------------------------------------- RELATIVES OF MISSING OPPOSITION MEMBERS RUN PROTEST ACTION 16:42 20/01/2003 On the same day when the presidents of Russia and Belarus convened for a meeting of the Supreme Council of Russia and Belarus, relatives of the missing Belarusian opposition members went for an action of protest in central city. Olga Zavadskaya, Zinaida Gonchar, Nina Korban, as well as representatives of opposition parties stood for some half an hour opposite the Minsk city circus, collecting signatures under a special plea, which was then passed over to ONT, Capital TV and State radio's central offices and also to the Palace of press, where "Sovietskaya Belorussiya" is headquartered. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/action --------------------------------------------------------- ACADEMICIAN RADIM GORETSKY BEATEN UP 14:23 20/01/2003 Delegates of the assembly of Minsk intelligentsia, which convened on January 19 in the Palace of arts, demanded resignation of the Minsk law-enforcement brass in connection with the repeated acts of violence over the prominent cultural and scientific figures of Belarus. In their statement the participants of the assembly raise "indignation and deep concern" over the beating on January 17 in Minsk of a famous Belarusian geologist, academician of the National Academy of arts of Belarus and Russia Radim Goretsky. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/radim --------------------------------------------------------- PUTIN TRAVELS TO MERGE LUKASHENKO WITH RUSSIA 11:57 20/01/2003, Ekaterina Grigorieva, Elena Daneiko, Izvestia On Monday Minsk will host negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. The main official event is the session of the Supreme state council of the union states, accompanied by a private conversation between the two incumbents. All disputed issues are presented in the most delicate form nobody feels like breaking the truce, proclaimed between the heads of the two countries after a loud scandal. However, none of the problems will really come closer to a solution. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/russia --------------------------------------------------------- BELARUSIAN PROCURACY CONSIDERS NEMTSOV'S COMPLAINT UNGROUNDED 11:55 20/01/2003 Deportation from Belarus of the leader of the Russian parliamentary faction "Union of right-wing forces" Boris Nemtsov "has never been applied in practice. He was simply denied entrance to the country's territory". This is said in the letter of deputy prosecutor general of Belarus, which he forwarded to the country's Cabinet of Ministers in response to Nemtsov's plea to recognize his October 23, 2002 deportation from Belarus as arbitrary. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/nemzov --------------------------------------------------------- PUGACHEV RUNS CONSULTATIONS IN BEIRUT 11:53 20/01/2003 On January 20-21 Beirut will host a round of consultations between deputies Foreign Minister of Belarus and Lebanon, reports RIA "Novosti". The press-secretary of the Belarusian FM Andrei Savinyh said that the Belarusian delegation will be headed by first deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Vasily Pugachev. The Lebanese FM will be represented by the Ministry's secretary general Mussa Issa. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/beirut --------------------------------------------------------- IHF ANNOUNCES YEAR OF JOINT ACTIONS AGAINST WAR IN CHECHNYA 11:52 20/01/2003, Anatoly Dotsenko, Deutche Welle Representatives of the Russian and foreign human rights organizations upheld the initiative of the International Helsinki Federation to announce this year as the year of joint actions against war in Chechnya. The human rights defenders said that on Friday during a press-conference in Moscow. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/ihf --------------------------------------------------------- UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION READYING TO PICKET CIS SUMMIT 11:51 20/01/2003 Representative of the parliamentary faction "Nasha Ukraina" (Our Ukraine), leader of the Lvov regional organization of the Ukrainian National "Ruh" (Front) Alexander Gudyma said that they are going to hold a protest against the meeting of CIS heads of states in the Ivano-Frankovsky region. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/20/sng --------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE January 20, 2003 www.charter97.org -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=media.charter97 http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com