The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for July 2008

14.07.2008 Homel oblast: oppositionists are included in 13 out of 17 electoral commissions

On 14 July Homel oblast executive committee and the presidium of Homel oblast soviet of deputies held a joint sitting on forming of district electoral commissions.

14.07.2008 Campaign on financial persecution of oppositionists and human rights activists continues

After Lukashenka’s statements that oppositionists lived better than all others without working anywhere the tax agencies started persecuting well known human rights activists and oppositionists.

14.07.2008 Police visit apartment of Volha Nikalaichyk’s mother

A police inspector and two persons in mufti wanted to come in the apartment of the mother of the independent producer of documentaries Volha Nikalaichyk. They motivated their visit by the investigation of the blast which had taken place in Minsk on 4 July.

14.07.2008 Mahiliou oblast: only two opposition activists included in district electoral commissions

Mahiliou oblast executive committee and the presidium of Mahiliou oblast soviet of deputies have finished forming the district electoral commissions. They appointed 169 out of 240 candidates to the 13 district electoral commissions of Mahiliou oblast.

14.07.2008 Dzianis Turchaniak is interrogated concerning the blast

Dzianis Turchaniak, an opposition activists from Brest, has been interrogated within the frames of investigation of the blast which had taken place in Minsk on 4 July.

14.07.2008 Two Young Front activists detained on the border

On 13 July in the evening the police detained Artsiom Lastavetski and Piatro Ruzau, activists of the underground youth organization Young Front, who were returning home from Lithuania. They were set down from a bus. The customs officers checked the activists for a long time and even took away their flash cards. Then they called to the police, who guarded the activists to a police station.

14.07.2008 Blast news: some of the detained activists get released from jail

The opposition activists Siarhei Vysotski and Alexander Serhiyenka, detained over the case of blasts on 4 July, were released from the KGB detention center on Saturday, 12 July.

14.07.2008 Police detain two activists of United Civil Party

The activists of the United Civil party Dzmitry Kavalhin and Viktar Piatrouski have been detained for throwing of an address of the democratic forces in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in postboxes. Secret services knew about the rally of the United Civil Party beforehand.

12.07.2008 Monitoring of the electoral campaign: the general public and political atmosphere is disturbing

By his decree #344 of 24 January 2008 Alexander Lukashenka appointed the elections to the Chamber of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus of the fourth convocation to 28 September 2008.

11.07.2008 United opposition nominates about 150 candidates to 110 district electoral commissions

11 July is the last day for nomination of candidates to district electoral commissions. Yet before the elections the United Democratic stated their intention to propose a candidate to each of 110 district electoral commissions.

11.07.2008 Detained UCP Members are punished for ‘dirty swearing’

The judge of Tsentralny district court of Minsk Tatsiana Pauliuchuk found the activists of the United Civil Party who have been detained today guilty under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code, petty hooliganism. Kiryl Paulouski was sentenced to 10 days of jail, Mikhail Pashkevich and Vital Stazharau – to 15 days.

11.07.2008 Ales Bialiatski: ‘A civil intimidation campaign has been started against the background of the electoral campaign’

On 11 July human rights activists, relatives of the arrested ex-members of White Legion and democratic leaders held a press conference dedicated to the groundless arrests in connection with the blast which had taken place on 4 July in Minsk, at celebration of the official Independence Day.

11.07.2008 Tax inspection still interested in Valiantsin Stefanovich’s income

After the end of the press-conference dedicated to the present arrests and other forms of pressurization applied towards democratic activists within the frames of investigation of the criminal case brought on the fact of the 4 July blast in Minsk, the representative of the Committee of financial investigations in Minsk and Minsk oblast Yu.Bobin phoned to the apartment of the human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich to hand a writ to him. Valiantsin’s wife refused to open the door in the absence of husband.

11.07.2008 Statement of Presidium of the political council of the United Democratic Forces

The authorities started using the 4 July blast in Minsk for lynching the political opposition, instead of searching the real criminals. As of 11 July 2008, 16 persons were arrested. The majority of them are activists and members of different democratic political parties, public initiatives and electoral headquarters of the candidates of the United Democratic Forces. Youth activists are terrorized and detained for protest against repressions. The atmosphere of unpunished lawlessness predominates in the country during the electoral campaign.

11.07.2008 Zhlobin: nominee to electoral commission is pressurized by financial police

At 10 p.m. on 10 July the resident of Zhlobin, entrepreneur and public activist Anatol Papou received a telephone call from a man who introduced himself as a worker of the financial police Karotki. He explained that he was standing at the door of Papou’s private house and needed to hand a writ to him. By this writ the activist was invited to the local department of financial police on 14 July for filling in an income declaration. ‘I don’t have to do it, because my only source of income is my business activity. As I haven’t ever been summonsed to the financial police before, I think it is connected with my public activities and my nomination to a district electoral commission,’ commented Papou.