The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE February 15, 2003 www.charter97.org --------------------------------------------------------- EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT UPHOLDS APPEAL TO EU ON BELARUS 16:12 17/02/2003 The European Parliament supported the proposal of the international trade union structures to the European Parliament concerning Belarus. In early February the International Confederation of free trade unions, the European confederation of trade unions and the Universal confederation of labor forwarded to the EU trade commissioner Pascal Lami an address, calling on EU to initiate official investigation into the situation with the freedom of associations in Belarus and, if need be, halt the generalized system of preferences' treatment, previously enjoyed by Belarus. This system provides less developed countries with a more favorable regime in foreign trade. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/trade --------------------------------------------------------- LUKASHENKO TO BUILD ATOMIC STATION ON TERRITORY OF BELARUS 11:53 17/02/2003 Alexander Lukashenko deems it necessary to build atomic energy stations on the country's soil. RIA "Novosti" correspondent reports that speaking on Friday before the students of the radio-technical university Lukashenko said the following (quote): "Its construction (meaning the atomic power station) would be one of the cornerstones of the country's independence and sovereignty, especially in the energy sphere". http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/atom --------------------------------------------------------- UNITY IN ACTION! 11:29 17/02/2003 On February 15 Minsk hosted a meeting of leaders of the entrepreneurial union of the Republic of Belarus, whose motto was "Unity in Action!" Leonid Malakhov (co-chairman of the "Private Property"), Valery Levonevsky (chairman of the Striking committee of trade unions of Belarus), Anatoly Shumchenko (United council of entrepreneurs) passed a joint communiqué on the support of the People's March "For Better Life" on March 12 and on holding a national one-day strike on March 12. Leaders of entrepreneurs concluded that under the present-day circumstances it is only common activities, which can be of real effect. And so they ruled that all further events in protection of businessmen would be carried out in unison. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/pred --------------------------------------------------------- PUTIN INVITES LUKASHENKO TO KREMLIN 16:31 17/02/2003 Today Alexander Lukashenko will have a phone conversation with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. The head of Russia invited his Belarusian colleague to pay visit to Moscow in order to engage in the festive events, dedicated to the Day of Homeland's Defender and 85th anniversary of Russian military forces. Both incumbents will hold a working meeting on the Russian-Belarusian relations. Expectedly, Lukashenko's visit to Moscow will take place on February 22-23. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/putin --------------------------------------------------------- US AMBASSADOR GREETS BAJ 16:29 17/02/2003 American ambassador in Belarus Michael Kozak congratulated the Belarusian Association of Journalists with the winning of "Golden feather" award of the International Newspaper Association in November last year for BAJ's brave confronting of Alexander Lukashenko's unleashed repressions. The diplomat voiced his greetings at the official reception, organized by Kozak's family in Raubichi on February 12. Below you may familiarize yourself with the text of his solemn speech. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/usa --------------------------------------------------------- RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TURNS INTO BELARUSIAN CONSPIRATOR 12:22 17/02/2003, Roman Yakovslevsky, Nezavisimaya Gazeta Russian ambassador in the Republic of Belarus set up in Minsk a "Club of business people" (of closed type). That's a quite extraordinary move on part of the head of Russia's diplomatic mission, who took up the post less than a year ago. His predecessors have previously only visited official cabinets and enjoyed random meetings with Alexander Lukashenko and his closest encirclement in the presidential Drozdy residence. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/posol --------------------------------------------------------- NIGHT RAID ON VALERY LEVONEVSKY'S APARTMENT 11:55 17/02/2003 Overnight on February 15-16, 2003 the law-enforcers raided the Grodno house of the chairman of the Striking committee of entrepreneurs of Belarus Valery Levonevsky. The man has just returned from Minsk, where he reached consensus with all country's major entrepreneurial structures on implementation of joint actions of protest in February-April 2003, including the People's March "For Better Life!" http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/levon --------------------------------------------------------- ARRESTS ON SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY 11:51 17/02/2003 During the street action "I Love Belarus!", held by the Young Front on February 14 in Minsk, police detained 6 dissenters. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/mf --------------------------------------------------------- PEOPLE'S MARCH "FOR BETTER LIFE!" PRECEDED BY APPREHENSIONS 11:49 17/02/2003, ZUBR Five ZUBR activists were apprehended on February 14-16 for pasting flyers with People's March "For Better Life!" logos. On February 14 Veronika Kupchenko, Pavel Yuhnevich, Aleksei Levkovich and Evgeny Afnagel were gluing the flyers near Nemiga, when they got detained at approximately 8p.m. by the law-enforcers armed with machine-guns. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/12march --------------------------------------------------------- ZUBR PASS OUT FLYERS AT MINSK MARKET-PLACES 11:47 17/02/2003, ZUBR Over the last weekend ZUBR activists distributed a few thousand flyers among Minsk entrepreneurs. The action covered the following market-places: "Chervensky", "Tractor", "Impuls", "Olymp", "Parking", "Palace of sport" and "Kupalovsky". The flyers contained information about the press-conference of national artist Zinaida Bondarenko, "Belarusfilm" cinema studio cameraman Tatiana Loginova, wife of the missing businessman Irina Krasovskaya, Charter'97 coordinator Ludmila Gryaznova and ZUBR activist Igor Tolstik, at which the ladies called on everyone to join the People's March and also an address by the "Private Property" to the country's small business. Over the next couple of days the flyers will be passed around the businessmen, working at other Minsk markets. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/zubr --------------------------------------------------------- LUKASHENKO'S PONDERING THIRD TERM NOMINATION 11:41 17/02/2003 At the meeting with students and representatives of the Belarusian State University of programming and radio electronics Alexander Lukashenko said that he does not rule out a possibility of participating in his third consecutive presidential race. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/luka --------------------------------------------------------- BELARUS SET TO HOLD LARGE-SCALE MILITARY MANEUVERS 11:31 17/02/2003 Belarusian Defense Minister, colonel-general Leonid Maltsev said that they plan to organize massive military exercises in the country. "Interfax" reports that the military trainings are scheduled for October 2003. http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/17/war --------------------------------------------------------- CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE February 15, 2003 www.charter97.org -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=media.charter97 http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com