CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January, 17, 2007
http://charter97.org/eng/news/
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THE DAY OF SOLIDARITY: BELARUSIANS CONTINUE STREET ACTIONS (PHOTO)
12:35 17/01/2007
Hundreds of people on 16 January went into the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities and towns to manifest their solidarity with the families of the Belarusian disappeared journalists, political prisoners and those fighting for freedom and democracy in Belarus.100 youth activists lighted the candles of Freedom and Solidarity at the Svislach river embankment .50 people with burning candles and of Freedom and Solidarity and portraits of political prisoners stood in chain at the central railway station.
Freedom to Political Prisoners! posters were hanged in different places of Minsk and independent newspapers were distributed throughout Belarus. The solidarity actions were held in regional centers of the country as well as in Baranavichi, Babruisk, Zhodzina, Barisau, Saligorsk, Niasvizh and other towns. Thousands of Belarusians lighted candles at their windowsills .In many countries all over the world Belarusian embassies were picketed and the actions of solidarity were taken.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/photo
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WASHINGTON PROTESTS AGAINST POLITICAL REPRESSIONS IN BELARUS
17:54 17/01/2007
A regular action of solidarity with the people of Belarus was taken in Washington on 16 January. The event was held under the slogan of protest against continuous political repressions in Belarus.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/usa
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TALES OF CHERNOBYL
14:06 17/01/2007, By Christopher Behnan, Daily Press & Argus
Last summer, Brighton resident Mark Resnicoff walked into the heart of the Chernobyl power plant that exploded in 1986, and has stories to share about his experience.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/chernobyl
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MOVIE ABOUT THE BELARUSIAN "PLOSCHA" WAS WATCHED IN WARSAW (PHOTO)
17:52 17/01/2007
Presentation of the Yuri Khaschevatskys "Ploscha" documentary was held in the frame of the Solidarity Day on 16 January in Warsaw. The presentation was organized by the Union for Support of Democracy in Belarus. The action took place in "Remont", a famous students club. The first night was attended not only by young spectators but also by grown-ups. That seemed to be unexpected by the organizers . And there were many Poles together with Mirek Dembinsky, famous polish documentary director, among the spectators
as the documentary was supplied with subtitles in Polish. Recently Mirek Dembinsky presented his "Belarusian Lesson" documentary about the March 2006 events in Minsk.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/platz
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BELARUS DM TO VISIT IRAN NEXT WEEK
17:43 17/01/2007
Belarusian Defense Minister Lieutenant General Leonid Maltsev is due to visit Iran at the head of a high ranking delegation next week.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/iran
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PROSECUTOR GENERAL HAS NOTHING TO SAY ABOUT THE OPPOSITION LEADERS KIDNAPPING, HAS HE?
15:23 17/01/2007
Law and order institutions of Belarus continue investigating the criminal cases for the claims on the disappeared citizens, declared Piotr Miklashevitch, prosecutor general of Belarus at the press-conference in Minsk. According to him, "the prosecutor general office, the ministry of local affairs and other law and order institutions continue investigating the sound criminal cases on the claims for disappeared people". Thus the Prosecutor General replied to the journalists question how the cases of
disappearance of the Belarusian opposition leaders and journalist in 1999-2000 have been investigated by the law and order institutions of Belarus.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/lider
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UNION OF POLES ACTIVISTS TRIAL IS TO START ON 23 JANUARY
15:22 17/01/2007
The lawsuit against Myachislau Yaskevich, head of the Grodna city department of the Union of Poles in Belarus will be held at the Kastrichnitsky district court of Grodno on 23 January. This fact was reported by Andzey Pachabut, the Union of Poles activist, to the Charter97 press-center.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/spb
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NICE BELARUS
15:08 17/01/2007
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with members of the Russian government yesterday and thanked them extravagantly for all they had done for the government of Belarus. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov has the details from the Kremlin.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/all
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THE JOURNALIST WAS LIMITED TO WORK IN THE ELECTORAL CENTER TO ONE HOUR ONLY
14:40 17/01/2007
The journalist of the non-governmental, social and political Narodnaya Volya newspaper Mr. Valery Shchukin was barred from entering the electoral center during pre-term voting and also during the deputies to local Councils Election Day in Vitebsk.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/only
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BACK TO THE FUTURE?
14:21 17/01/2007, By Arnaud de Borchgrave, The Washington Times
Its no longer politically incorrect to be skeptical about Vladimir Putins Russia. In fact, said a leading European expert on Russia, speaking privately in Washington, "Russia is a far different political construct than the one we Europeans thought we were dealing with for the past five years."
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/back
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EU PARTNER RUSSIA IS "CRUSHING DEMOCRACY", NGO SAYS
14:07 17/01/2007, By Andrew Rettman, EUOBSERVER
EU "strategic partner" Russia is "crushing" democracy NGO Freedom House has warned in its 2006 survey, as Germanys Angela Merkel gears up to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sunday (21 January) to break the ice on a new "Strategic Partnership Treaty." "Putin has systematically weakened or marginalized independent media, advocates for democracy and regime critics generally," the NGOs research director Arch Puddington writes, citing the murder of reporter Anna Politkovskaya, abuses in Chechnya and
a crack-down on foreign funded NGOs.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/ngo
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GERMAN GREF: UNION STATE WITH BELARUS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
13:37 17/01/2007
Creation of a Union State with Belarus is impossible without economic integration, Economy Minister German Gref told a government hour at the State Duma today. According to Gref, the following actions are needed in order to create a Union State with Belarus: the signing of a constitutional act, the introduction of a common currency, and the setting-up of a regulated economic zone between the two countries.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/rf
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SMITH BILL PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS IN BELARUS BECOMES LAW
12:54 17/01/2007
Washington - A bill authored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) promoting democracy and human rights in Belarus was signed into law over the weekend by President George W. Bush. "Alexander Lukashenka is Europes last dictator and he rules Belarus with an iron fist," Smith said. "Lukashenka continues to systematically repress democratic activists and violate the basic human rights of the Belarusian people. By reauthorizing the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act, we are showing that the U.S. stands on the side
of the Belarusian people in their effort to live in a free, democratic state not of the side of their oppressor."
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/smith
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PRESIDENT ADAMKUS WISHES SUCCESS TO NEW LITHUANIAN AMBASSADOR TO BELARUS
12:53 17/01/2007
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus on January 15 received the newly appointed Lithuanian ambassador to Belarus, Edminas Bagdonas, to hand him credentials to be presented to Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko, told BelaPAN.
http://www.charter97.org/eng/news/2007/01/17/litva
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CHARTER'97 BELARUS NEWS UPDATE
January, 17, 2007
http://charter97.org/eng/news/