The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

The Belarusian Ministry of Justice says the infamous Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code (illegal NGO membership) may soon be repealed. The statement was made at the OSCE annual Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw, Poland. Representatives of Belarusian NGOs have presented their reports on the situation in the field of freedom of association in Belarus, including the application of Article 193-1 as a means of harassing members of unregistered NGOs. Valiantsin Stefanovich, lawyer of the Human Rights Center Viasna, spoke on Nasha Viasna’s registration trial at the Supreme Court on 10-12 August 2009.

The United Civil party leader Anatol Lyabedzka and the chairman of the Communist party Syarhei Kalyakin were detained.

Anatol Lyabedzka, the UCP leader, was arrested first. With activists of his party he was handing out leaflets about the anti-crisis platform of the United Democratic Forces.

The detained leader of the party Anatol Lyabedzka and activist Alyaksandr Stsepanenka were taken to the police department of Savetski district of Minsk.

Later the leader of the Communist party of Belarus Syarhei Kalyakin was detained while handing out leaflets near the entrance of Minsk Tractor plant.

Militia confiscated information materials for “expert examination” from Vasil Palyakou, an activist of the United Civil Party from Homel.

On September 29, Ryma Yastremskaya, the ideology deputy head of the Rahachou district executive committee, and a group of people detained head of the UCP Homel region branch Vasil Palyakou, Radio Svaboda reports.

The oppositionist was handing round leaflets calling the local authorities to return privileges for travelling by community transport to pensioners, students, schoolchildren, and physically disabled.

Four days after a joint international press freedom mission to Belarus, Reporters Without Borders today called on the Belarusian government to stop obstructing the work of journalists working for foreign news media.

The press freedom organisation has signed a statement issued by the mission at the end of its five-day visit noting that: “Accreditation of journalists working for Belarus or foreign media, as well as the registration of offices of media, are restricted by non-transparent and discriminatory decisions of the authorities.”

Masty and Shchuchyn district authorities have imposed another ban on holding local constituent assemblies of the Belarusian European Forum, due on 14 November in Minsk, saying that the applicants violated the provisions of the Law on Mass Actions, namely they failed to present documents certifying the organizers’ legal responsibility for the meetings. According to Ales Zarembiuk, For Freedom member and one of the applicants, the decision had different underlying reasons: ‘After all the attempts of obtaining legal permission to hold a meeting, it becomes clear that the authorities do not want the Forum to be known among the general public.’

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not accredited Radio Racyja journalist Viktar Parfionenka, referring to Paragraph 10 of the Ministry’s local regulations, after 4 months of silence.