CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 26, 2003
www.charter97.org
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STANISLAV BOGDANKEVICH: ECONOMIC POLICY MUST CHANGE
16:01 26/02/2003

"We have to fight for the minds of people and exert pressure on the authorities
through meetings and demonstrations. I, as a professional economist, definitely
support the People's March "For Better Life!", scheduled for March 12. In my
opinion, turning the political parties towards social-economic slogans is a very
promising position, which can found solidarity in the masses,"  said in an interview
to Charter's press-center the former chief of the Belarusian National Bank Stanislav
Bogdankevich.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/bogdankevich

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GENERAL, OLYMPIC CHAMPION CHALLENGE REGIME?
15:52 26/02/2003

Deputies of the so-called "house of representatives" Valery Frolov and Vladimir
Parfenovich will organize tomorrow a unique event in the parliament. The round
table, initiated by the deputies' group "Republic", will attract representatives
of all 18 political parties, registered with the Justice Ministry, five ministries,
KGB, leading public organizations and media. The participants will discuss Belarusian
sovereignty, social-economic situation in the country, possible ways-out of the
crisis, into which the country was driven by the regime.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/frolov

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GENADZ BURAVKIN: INTELLECTUAL FORCES' UNIFICATION IS PARAMOUNT
11:35 26/02/2003

"I assume that intelligentsia, at least most talented and honest part of it,
is not only ready to struggle but already does that. Vasil Bykov, Radzim Goretsky,
Rygor Baradulin, Nil Gilevich, Sergei Zakonnikov, Anatoly Grytskevich speak through
the press, fight for the national idea and country's future, try to keep people
away from wrong decision-making and behavior, such as, for instance, the formation
of a weird union state. These people are using their own technique, while the
rest of methods must be used by the political parties and youth organizations.
Our intelligentsia cannot be blamed for indifference towards the future of Belarus,"
 said in an interview to the Charter's press-center Belarusian poet Genadz Buravkin.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/buraukin

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LUKASHENKO SPENDS VACATION AT PUTIN'S FAVORITE RESORT
15:56 26/02/2003

Alexander Lukashenko arrived for rest to Russia. The Belarusian leader intends
to spend a fortnight at the mountain resort Krasnaya Polyana "Red Meadow" near
Sochi.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/sochi

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POLAND FORMULATED HER VISION OF EU-BELARUS RELATIONS
15:55 26/02/2003

Polish Foreign Minister Vlodzimezh Chimoshevich formulated his country's vision
of EU stance towards Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova at the international
conference "EU enlargement and good neighborhood policy". Chimoshevich believes
that the EU member-states should develop a "consecutive, all-encompassing structure
of their eastern politics", which must form the eastern EU direction. According
to the Polish official, the Eastern direction must have non-governmental background
and widely use the experience, accumulated by NGOs.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/poland

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RELATIONS BETWEEN BELARUS, IRAQ TO GET MORE DYNAMIC SAYS VOITOVICH
14:52 26/02/2003

Satisfaction over the rates of trade-economic cooperation between Belarus and
Iraq was shared on February 26 by the chairman of the "council of the republic"
Alexander Voitovich in course of his encounter with the Iraqi ambassador in Belarus
Salman Zeidan. The successfulness of their economic cooperation, he said, is
partially explained by the active work of the joint commission on trade-economic
cooperation, the fifth session of which took place in Baghdad in late December.
During the meetings in the diverse Iraqi ministries Belarusian side signed contracts,
worth overall around $80mln.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/irak

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ILO TO REMIND BELARUSIAN AUTHORITIES OF INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS
12:18 26/02/2003

Ahead of the following session of the committee for the freedom of association
of the International Labor Organization, scheduled for March 6, the International
Confederation of free trade unions forwarded to the ILO director general Huan
Somavia their address, calling on him to remind the Belarusian leadership about
the commitments, they bound themselves with when entering this organization and
ratifying its fundamental conventions, reports BelaPAN.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/mot

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KGB AT ALERT
12:17 26/02/2003

Co-chairman of the public association "Private Property" Leonid Malakhov received
a phone call this morning from someone, who called himself a KGB agent Lomot
Sergei Petrovich and offered to meet him. Malakhov declined to do so and proposed
the caller to send an official KGB subpoena. In response, the man recommended
to meet "without too much turmoil". However, the entrepreneur decisively refused
to obey. At hearing that Sergei Lomot pledged he would soon send him an official
KGB summons for interrogation. Malakhov views the incident as an attempt to exert
pressure on him prior to the People's March "For Better Life!", scheduled for
March 12 (which he is an organizer of). However, said Malakhov, they will fail
to threaten him anyway.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/malahov

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FREE TRADE UNIONS MEET WITH DEMOCRATIC
11:46 26/02/2003

Delegation of the International Confederation of free trade unions intends to
pay visit to Belarus on February 27-28 in order to familiarize themselves with
the situation in the Belarusian Congress of democratic trade unions, whose accession
to ICFTU will be considered later in June.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/trade

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JUDGES PASS ARBITRARY VERDICTS, BLAMED FOR BOORISH CONDUCT
11:44 26/02/2003

The activities of the general jurisprudence has serious flaws, said at the press-conference
the chairman of the Supreme Court of Belarus Sukalo, noting that there has been
no improvement of the justice's quality in the year 2002 whatsoever.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/court

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BELARUS SET TO TIE NON-ALIGNMENT MOVEMENT, CIS
11:41 26/02/2003

Belarus is ready to become a connecting link in the dialogue between the Non-Alignment
Movement and CIS on most poignant problems of the present-day, said at the Movement's
XIIIth plenary in Kuala-Lumpur on Monday the Foreign Minister of Belarus Mikhail
Khvostov. In his opinion, the Non-Alignment Movement's activities must be based
upon the dialogue between nations and civilizations.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/sng

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POLICE BREAKS IN POLITICAL VICTIMS' MUSEUM
11:40 26/02/2003

Representatives of the Bobruisk town hall and local law-enforcers broke into
the office of the Belarusian organization of political repressions' victims on
February 25 morning. The raid has been carried out upon the request of the organization's
newly appointed leadership, supported by the Bobruisk authorities. The organization's
chairman Anna Bogach claims that the regime's main task is to liquidate Belarus'
only museum of political repressions' victims, allocated in their office.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2003/02/26/muzeum
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
February 26, 2003
www.charter97.org