The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for November 2007

12.11.2007 Vaukavysk: Authorities Try to Disrupt Assembly of BPF Party

On 11 November in Vaukavysk an assembly of the BPF Party for nomination of delegates to the upcoming General Assembly of the party took place. The assembly was attended by the BPF chairman Vintsuk Viachorka, his deputy Ales Mikhalevich, the chair of Hrodna BPF office Siarhei Malchyk, the chair of Vaukavysk BPF office Mikalai Kalalchuk and a member of the BPF council Uladzimir Kishkurna.

09.11.2007 Yaraslau Hryshchenia Has Spine Fracture

Now Yaraslau Hryshchenia is in Dziarzhynsk hospital. The ambulance drove him there together with the driver of the minibus by which Hryshchenia was going to Baranavichy. The road was covered with ice. The car was running at 90km/h. Not far from Dziarzhynsk the car slipped to the median strip and then fell into a ditch.

09.11.2007 Mahiliou: Police Detaine Hanna Illina and Maryna Nestserava

On 8 November in the center of Mahiliou the police detained two girls. The policemen explained the detention by saying that the girls looked like the robbers who had stolen a mobile phone. During the detention Maryna Nestserava was holding leaflets with information about a new criminal case against a Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich.

09.11.2007 Shklou: Trial of Dashkevich Ends with Fine

In spring 2007 a leader of the Young Front Zmitser Dashkevich, who is still serving his 18-month prison term under article 193.1 of the Criminal Code (activities on behalf of unregistered organization) refused to testify in a criminal case against another Young Front member, Ivan Shyla, who received the same charges. As a result of this refusal the authorities brought another criminal case against Dashkevich to intimidate him. The second criminal case was brought under article 402 of the Criminal Code ‘Refusal or evasion of witness from testifying’. The maximal punishment under this article is 6 months of jail.

09.11.2007 Authorities Worried by BRSM Members’ Participation in Opposition’s Actions

Youth remains the most problem electorate segment, and the most inconvenient part of the Belarusian opposition for the Belarusian authorities. The attention to the youth generation has especially increased since last presidential election in spring 2006.

09.11.2007 Why Mock at Participants of Halloween Celebration?

The youth activists Andrei Kim, Tatsiana Lashkarova, Yury Shalin and Valiantsin Sakalouski were arrested on 21 October for celebrating Halloween in Minsk. They were charged with ‘public moral’ offense.

08.11.2007 Revenge to Entrepreneur

On 6 November Maladzechna district court fined a local entrepreneur Mikalai Apiationak 3,1 million rubles.

08.11.2007 No Bryl, Sapeha and Vainilovich Streets for Minsk

The September ruling of the deputies of Minsk city soviet of deputies to rename Bersan Street in Minsk into Vainilovich Street and name some new streets after a famous political figure of the Great Principality of Lithuania Leu Sapeha and a well-known Belarusian writer of the Soviet times Yanka Bryl did not pass the legal expertise of the Ministry of Justice.

08.11.2007 Trial of Zmitser Dashkevich Postponed to 9 November

On 6 November the trial of the leader of the Young Front Zmitser Dashkevich started in Shklou prison. At present Dashkevich is serving 18-month term for ‘activities on behalf of unregistered organization’ (article 193.1 of the Criminal Code). The criminal case that is being considered now has been brought against Dashkevich in August 2007 for refusal to testify against another member of the Young Front, Ivan Shyla, who was also charged with violation of article 193.1.

08.11.2007 Belarusian Helsinki Committee Demands Investigation of Fight at Social March

On 4 November when the Social March demonstration crossed Yakub Kolas and Surhanau Streets in Minsk, a group of young people in black (about 50 persons) separated from the column and put up a fight in the traffic area. Many of them were chanting fascist slogans.

08.11.2007 War on ‘BelSat’ Continues

The authorities are going to do the following: the city dwellers are proposed to replace dishes with cable and terrestrial TV. It is surprising, but there hasn’t yet been any concrete order to remove the dishes. But the authorities are planning how to do it: during repair works.

08.11.2007 Salihorsk: Ivan Shyla Faces New Criminal Case?

The youth activist Ivan Shyla was detained on 7 November, during a picket in the main square of Salihorsk. Together with him the police detained several other action participants. While the district officials were lying flowers to the monument of Lenin seven persons unrolled the transparency ‘Put Communism to Tribunal’. The action lasted for 15 seconds only.

08.11.2007 Chair of Hrodna City Office of United Civil Party Fired

43-year-old Zmitser Slutski, chair of Hrodna city office of the United Civil Party, has been fired. The reason was that he missed some days of work because of the five-day arrest.

08.11.2007 Poland: Who Stabbed Journalist Klaskouskaya?

The Belarusian journalist, political refugee from Belarus Volha Klaskouskaya has been assaulted in Poland. The ucpb.org was informed about this by a student of the Supreme Theatric School in Krakow Zmitser Chartkou.

08.11.2007 Rechytsa: KGB Pays Interest to Kindergarten Nurses

This week the psychologist Tatsiana Lasitsa has been summonsed to Rechytsa KGB office for an informal talk. According to Tatsiana, in the beginning of the week she was invited for a meeting by an unknown man who introduced himself as a KGB worker. He was interested in the circumstances of her participation in the weekly human rights school in Vilnius, Lithuania. Tatsiana Lasitsa told him that she went there in her leisure time and that he would come to a meeting only with her lawyer. Then the ‘unknown’ promised to visit her at work, but still has not come there.