CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January 27, 2003
www.charter97.org
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"HE MUST GO!" CALL IN CENTRAL MINSK
17:08 27/01/2003

A few thousand flyers with "He Must Go!" calls were glued over the past weekend
by the ZUBR movement's activists. The flyers appeared all across Skarina prospect
and the adjacent streets. They could be seen everywhere  at pillars, bus stops,
buildings' walls and fences.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/zubr

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REGIME ANNIHILATES FREE CINEMATOGRAPHER
11:46 27/01/2003

Personnel of the cinema studio "Tatiana", whose property was arrested by the
officers of the Committee for state control, addressed all cultural associations,
people of art, mass media and international human rights organizations. The filmmakers
plead with the society and the world to save their studio from complete annihilation.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/kino

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BELARUSIAN THEME TO BE RAISED AT WINTER PACE SESSION
11:44 27/01/2003

During the winter session of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly,
which will convene in Strasbourg on January 27-31, they will discuss the situation
in Belarus. The Belarusian topic will be brought up at the January 28 PACE plenary
within the framework of Mrs.Isohookana-Asunmaa's report (Finnish rapporteur on
the freedom of press), who dedicated a special analytical rubric in her report
to the situation in Belarus, mentioning such facts as "government's sway over
media, detentions and incarcerations of journalists, economic and legal extortions".
Another important aspect for the country will be the formation of the PACE sub-commission
on disappearances in Belarus, to which they invited representatives of the Belarusian
opposition  Anatoly Lebedko, Vladimir Nistuk, Valentina Polevikova and Yaroslav
Romanchuk.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/pace

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PROCURACY THREATENS ZAKHARENKO FAMILY WITH RETALIATION
17:27 27/01/2003

Zakharenko family's representative, chairman of the human rights organization
"Legal Assistance to the population" Oleg Volchek receives threats from the procuracy
detective Vladimir Chumachenko, responsible for investigating into the disappearance
of the former Interior Minister of Belarus general Yuri Zakharenko. Oleg Volchek
claims that Chumachenko attempted to provoke a fight with him right in the procuracy
building, threatening to "smash him, crush him and imprison" in case the layer
keeps participating in Zakharenko's process. At present Volchek files a complaint
on the matter to the prosecutor of Minsk, in which he mentions the psychologically
inadequate conduct of investigator Chumachenko. "If previously I received anonymous
phone threats than now procuracy does that in open,"  said at today's press-conference
in the office of the Belarusian PEN-center Oleg Volchek.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/zaharenko

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EU MARKS DEEPENING BELARUS SELF-ISOLATION
11:59 27/01/2003, Radio Svaboda

The EU Committee for foreign affairs stressed the deepening isolation of Belarus,
calling on the Belarusian authorities to hold political and economic reforms
in order to reach a concomitant agreement with the European Union.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/izolat

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SILENT FUNERALS
11:54 27/01/2003, Elena Daneiko, "Izvestia"

Minsk procuracy halted preliminary investigation into the disappearance of the
Vice-Speaker of the 13th Supreme Soviet, one of the leaders of the democratic
opposition in Belarus, former government's Vice-Premier, chairman of the Central
Electoral Committee Viktor Gonchar and his companion Anatoly Krasovsky "because
of the failure to identify persons, due to be brought to criminal accountability".
"The Belarusian authorities, suspected of implication in the political vanishings,
are eager to quietly bury the disappearance cases. Up to date there remain unknown
the whereabouts of the former Interior Minister Yuri Zakharenko and ORT cameraman
Dmitry Zavadsky,"  commented Anatoly Krasovsky's spouse Irina on the document,
signed by the senior investigator of the procuracy, counselor of justice Vladimir
Chumachenko.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/prok

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STATE MEDIA LACK FIRM STAND IN SOCIETY?
11:51 27/01/2003

Outcomes of the Ministry of information's work in the year 2002 were drawn at
an extended meeting of the committee, which convened on January 24 with the Information
Minister Mikhail Podgainy at the head. The event also attracted country's vice-speaker
Vladimir Drazhin, first deputy head of the presidential Administration Stanislav
Knyazev, heads of the country's mass media and other national industries.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/smi

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BELARUSIAN PRISONS CRAMMED WITH INMATES
11:49 27/01/2003

Belarus occupies the fifth spot in the world as to the number of convicts and
suspects per 100,000 residents. "Rosbalt" correspondent quotes the chief of the
Committee for penalties' execution of Belarus Vladimir Kovchur as saying this
at the Friday press-conference in Minsk. According to the Belarusian Interior
Ministry, Belarus is next only to USA, Russia, Kazakhstan and Caiman islands.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/turma

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5 DEATH ROW INMATES EXECUTED IN 2002
11:48 27/01/2003

The number of capital punishments in Belarus over the past years significantly
contracted as compared to the 90ies. "For instance, in 1996 they would execute
up to 40 prisoners a year, while last year they shot only 5 criminals,"  said
at the Friday press-conference in Minsk the head of the Committee for penalties'
execution of Belarus Vladimir Kovchur.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/01/27/2002
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January 27, 2003
www.charter97.org