07.07.2009 Kobryn: dismissal from job for refusal to enter pro-governmental organization

Correspondence student Ales Strachuk has been fired from a Kobryn enterprise for refusal to join the pro-governmental organization Belaya Rus.

07.07.2009 Vitsebsk activists collect signatures in support of Leanid Svetsik

The civil activists of Vitsebsk are collecting signatures under an official statement in support of the human rights defender Leanid Svetsik. They intend to pass this document to Vitsebsk oblast court where the criminal case against Mr. Svetsik is tried.

07.07.2009 Angela Merkel is required to answer Lukashenka’s statements about abducted opposition activists

The leader of the United Civil Party Anatol Liabedzka has addressed the authorities of Germany with a request to help in investigating the abductions of oppositional leaders in Belarus.

07.07.2009 Police arrest director of firm where Mikalai Autukhovih worked

The director of Vaukavysk firm Nika-Taxi 22222 Liudmila Paremskaya was detained by the police and special purpose squad Almaz from Minsk. The office of the firm was searched and documents were seized.

07.07.2009 Political prisoner Artsiom Dubski sentenced to one year in jail

Asipovichy district court sentenced Artsiom Dubski to one year of imprisonment. He was taken to prison right after from the court hall.

06.07.2009 Artur Finkevich to lodge complaint with Ministry of Defense

Artur Finkevich, leader of the Young Belarus unregistered organization, is going to lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Defense against lieutenant-colonel Aliaksandrau, deputy commander of military unit 29 where his friend and oppositional activist Ivan Shyla is currently serving. The activist says the military official abused his national dignity by illegally denying meeting with Ivan Shyla. ‘Lieutenant-colonel Aliaksei Aliaksandrau ordered that we spoke Russian,’ says Mr.Finkevich.

06.07.2009 Police break up opposition summer education camp

On 5 July the police accompanied by several plainclothes persons broke up an educational summer camp organized by the Right-Wing Alliance opposition organization outside the town of Bobr, Krupki region. The youngsters were ordered to leave the place under threat of arrest.

06.07.2009 Belarus defies Council of Europe call for a moratorium

The authorities in Belarus continue to ignore international pressure on them to declare a moratorium on the death penalty, Amnesty International and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, said today. The two organizations have just learnt that the Brest regional court sentenced a 30-year-old man to death on 29 June.

The sentence was pronounced less than a week after the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly voted on 23 June in favour of restoring the Special Guest status to the Parliament of Belarus on the condition that Belarus declares a moratorium on the execution of the death penalty.

06.07.2009 HRH Network against freedom of association abuses in the Belarusian legislation

HRH Network has joined the campaign “No to Article 193.1!” The campaign is headed by the NGO Assembly and its goal is to force cancellation of the article 193.1 of the Belarusian Criminal Code.

02.07.2009 ARCHE extremism case terminated

Brest Maskouski Court has terminated the legal prosecution of the ARCHE analytical magazine for alledged propaganda of extremism after the local KGB department declared they would not insist on putting the charge on the defendant. According to an official letter recieved by ARCHE, the hearing was closed, the judge and the secretary being the only persons present.

02.07.2009 Supreme Court reaffirms decision to deny registration to Young Democrats

The Supreme Court of Belarus has reaffirmed the decision by the Ministry of Justice to disallow registration to the Young Democrats political party due to a number of misspellings in the body of the application. The founders of the party are sure the decision is groundless, since the few insignificant flaws could have been easily corrected upon the request of the Ministry of Justice. In their reply to the application, the registration officials have also stressed that the organization's name does not correspond to its Charter. The Supreme Court did not take this into consideration, but suported the stance of the Ministry in general.

02.07.2009 Arrests of oppositionists at fest in Budslau

Paval Sevyarynets, co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy (BCD), and other opposition activists are among the detained.

On July 2, a fest of worship of icon of Our Lady of Budslau, patroness of Belarus, takes place in Budslau (the Myadzel district, the Minsk region). A reason for the detention of Paval Sevyarynets and three BCD activists was the fact that the young people had some dozens of BCD bulletin “Krynitsa” on them.

01.07.2009 Court did not grant Khvedaruk’s complaint

On 29 June Minsk city court considered the cassation complaint of the activist of the Young Front Zmitser Khvedaruk who had been forcedly drafted into the army.

01.07.2009 Emanuel Zeltser has been released from Mahiliou prison

The US citizen Emanuel Zeltser was released from penal colony #15 in Mahiliou in the evening on June 30. The former prisoner flew to the United States at 5:30 a.m. on 1 July.

01.07.2009 Amnesty International and Belarusian Helsinki Committee adopted joint statement concerning new death sentenced in Belarus

‘The Belarusian authorities continue to ignore international pressure on them to declare a moratorium on the death penalty’, RFE/RL quotes a press release of Amnesty International.