IN THIS ISSUE:

-- HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS --

SUPREME SOVIET SESSION DISPERSED BY POLICE

On June 23, thirty-eight deputies of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, the parliament disbanded by President Lukashenko in 1996 and still recognized by the West, met in Minsk to discuss the current political situation. When Semyon Sharetsky, chair of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, announced the opening of the session, the cafe where the meeting was being held was cordoned off by special police forces and plainclothed KGB officers. The banned parliamentarians were ordered to leave the building under the pretext of an alleged bomb scare. The MPs refused to vacate the premises, noting that none of the building’s tenants were forced to leave. It took the police 40 minutes and the assistance of special forces to "persuade" the deputies to leave. Force was applied to Valery Shchukin, who alone refused to obey orders, and called the police actions "anti-constitutional" and a violation of parliamentary immunity. The meeting continued on the street. Sharetsky later commented to reporters that "the bomb story is typical of Lukashenko’s regime." (Belapan, June 23)

LUKASHENKO, RESIGN!

At an impromptu meeting in the street after police dispersed their attempted session on June 23, 13^th Supreme Soviet deputies endorsed a resolution calling upon Lukashenko to resign, reminding him that under the 1994 Constitution, his five-year term in office expires on July 20. The banned parliament also called on the government to hold round-table talks with the opposition to find a way out of the political impasse. The complete text of the resolution passed unanimously follows:.

"Mr. Lukashenko! On July 20, 1999, your Constitutional term as the president of Belarus will end. Since then you will no longer be regarded as a democratically-elected Head of State. This was officially confirmed by authoritative European structures (Council of Europe, North-Atlantic Assembly), and the U.S. Department of State.

"Both your policy as of Head of State and the policy of your government will receive the appropriate evaluation in future. We want to emphasize that you had a chance to participate in fair democratic elections, scheduled by the Supreme Soviet for May 16, 1999. Not only did you fail to use this opportunity but you deliberately disrupted the election campaign. You are perfectly aware that an overstay in office constitutes a violation of the law and will be treated as a treason. Moreover, such behavior may well provoke mass actions of disobedience for which you and your government will bear the sole responsibility.

"Pursuant to the Belarusian Constitution, two branches shall be elected by the people – executive (President) and legislative (Supreme Soviet). Your refusal to obey the Constitution will force the Supreme Soviet, as the highest legislative authority of the state, to carry out its constitutional duties. (Charter 97, June 24)

OPPOSITION LEADER MEETS IPU SECRETARY GENERAL

On June 24, Andrei Sannikov, Charter 97 international coordinator and former Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister, met Anders Johnson, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to discuss the latest political developments in Belarus: the arrest of ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir; the abduction of Yuri Zakharenko, former Minister of Internal Affairs; and the dispersal of the June 23rd session of the 13^th Supreme Soviet. Sannikov also met Christina Penta, deputy Secretary-General of the IPU. (Charter 97, June 24)

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED ABOUT DEMOCRACY IN BELARUS

The Council of Europe will work toward enhancing democracy in Yugoslavia and Belarus, Walter Schwimmer, the newly-elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe, told journalists in Strasbourg. On September 1, Schwimmer, from Austria, will replace Daniel Tarschys, the outgoing Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Schwimmer expressed confidence that the council will deal efficiently with Europe's problems. (Interfax, June 24)

SUPREME SOVIET CHAIRMAN DENIES INFORMATION ABOUT NEW GOVERNMENT

On June 22, in an interview to Naviny, a leading independent newspaper, Semyon Sharetsky refuted a Radio Liberty report that the 13^th Supreme Soviet had started forming a new government. Sharetsky stressed that a "formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers is not to be discussed until the official term of the current president expires." (Belapan, June 22)

DEPUTY DENIED PERMISSION TO LEAVE BELARUS

Pavel Znavets, the deputy of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, has been notified that he would not be allowed to leave Belarus until criminal proceedings against him for his harsh remarks about President Lukashenko are dismissed. The notification came after the deputy applied for a new travel document. Znavets considers this measure a grave violation of his civil and parliamentary rights. He plans to appeal to various international organizations to draw their attention to the situation in Belarus. (Belapan, June 23)

DISPUTE OVER PRESIDENCY MAY LEAD TO BLOODSHED

"If Lukashenko were an honest man, he would resign, hold a presidential election and run for the Belarusian presidency again. But he will not do that," said Anatoly Lashkevich, former secretary of the Belarusian Party of Communists, in an interview published in the June 25’s issue of the Naviny opposition newspaper. "It may lead to bloodshed after July 20, when Lukashenko's five-year term expires under the 1994 Constitution," he added. Two years ago, as the authorities launched a campaign of defamation against him, Lashkevich left Belarus for Moscow, where he now heads the Rubin Television Plant. (Belapan, June 25)

FREEDOM FOR CHIGIR AND BELARUS!

On June 17, the Freedom for Chigir Committee, the Belarus Public Committee in Support of Ex-premier Michael Chigir, jailed since March 30 on charges said to be fabricated by international human rights organizations, appealed to Belarusian citizens to actively participate in the new organization, and called on the international community to join their efforts to obtain the release of all Belarusian political prisoners. (Belapan, June 17)

POLICE SEARCHES CHIGIR‘S APARTMENT IN MOSCOW

Julia Chigir, wife of Mikhail Chigir, who is also service as his legal counsel, said that Belarusian authorities searched their private apartment in Moscow. Authorities claim that nine criminal cases have been initiated against Chigir, although so far he was only questioned on one case – regarding the loan in the amount of $1m issued by Belagroindustrialbank. Julia Chigir also said that her husband was last investigated on April 16. (Radio 101.2, June 23)

BHC DENIED PERMISSION TO VISIT VASILY STAROVOITOV

Nadezhda Chmara, the Judge of the Kirovsk District Court, rejected a request of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee to have a visit with Vasily Starovoitov, ex-Chairman of the Rassvet collective farm, who has been sentenced to two years in jail. Chmara based her refusal on Article 368 of the Belarusian Criminal Code, which "says nothing about the rights of inmates to meet NGO representatives." BHC members are seriously concerned about the physical condition of Vasily Starovoitov. (Radio 101.2, June 22)

STATE PRESS COMMITTEE ISSUES SECOND WARNING TO IMYA

The Belarusian State Press Committee has issued a second warning to Imya, a leading independent weekly newspaper, for publishing in its June 17 issue an article "A Kinotavr-Like Festival." The article alleged that Lukashenko flew to the City of Sochi, the famous Russian sea resort, to attend the Kinotavr Russian movie festival, but at the last minute decided not to show up at the festival for the fear of being boycotted by Russian cultural figures. The State Press Committee claims that Lukashenko did not go to Sochi at all. Irina Khalip, Imya editor-in-chief, said that the correspondent had learned about Lukashenko's arrival in Sochi from Mark Rudenshtein, the festival's general producer, who had invited the Belarusian president. She said that the newspaper will file an appeal against the warning with the Supreme Economic Court. The newspaper intends to ask Lukashenko to be a witness at the hearing, Khalip said. Under the Belarusian press law, if a newspaper receive two warnings within a year it may be shut down. Analysts believe that the warning is a part of the authorities' plan to close as many independent newspapers as possible by July 20. (Belapan, June 24)

…AND COMMENTS ON NEKLYAEV’S DEFECTION

On June 23, Mikhail Podgainy, chairman of the State Press Committee, neither confirmed nor denied the information about Belarusian poet Vladimir Neklyaev’s decision to ask for political asylum in neighboring Poland. Podgainy believes that the Neklyaev’s decision might be motivated by the fact that at its next session the Press Committee planned to consider the results of the inspection carried out in the Krynitsa magazine where Neklyaev was the editor-in-chief. Podgainy pointed out, however, that the inspection revealed only minor financial irregularities which cannot entail any serious punishment. A few months earlier, Poland has granted political asylum to Belarusian businessman Alexander Pupeiko and a number of Belarusian Popular Front activists. Nowadays, the Polish authorities are considering the possibility to grant political asylum to Valery Krugovoy, former chair of the financial commission of the Supreme Soviet. (Interfax, June 23)

"CONGRATULATIONS CASE" BEING INVESTIGATED IN SLUTSK

Yury Khodorivich, Assistant Public Prosecutor, has started preliminary investigation of the so-called "Congratulations Case." About 200 Slutsk residents sent post-cards congratulating imprisoned Mikhail Chigir on his birthday and criticizing the Belarusian authorities. Some post cards were returned to the regional prosecutor’s office which is now searching for the senders. (Charter 97, June 24)

CHAIRMAN OF SLUTSK VOTERS’ CLUB ACQUITTED

On June 23, Svetlana Pastukhova, judge of the Slutsk District Court, set aside charges against Alexander Kotlyarov, Chairman of the local Club of Voters. Kotlyarov was accused of disseminating printed materials about the opposition’s presidential campaign. Judge Pastukhova noted that the prosecutor’s office may appeal her decision. (Charter 97, June 24)

ANTI-PRESIDENTIAL GRAFFITI IN VITEBSK

On June 22, Vitebsk residents noticed that anti-presidential graffiti had been painted on many downtown buildings. The Committee of State Control and adjacent buildings were covered with the slogans "Stop the Russian Horde", "Take Your Slavic Festivals Elsewhere!", "Belarus – To NATO, Lukashenko – To jail". (Charter 97, June 22)

ONE MORE DEATH SENTENCE IN BELARUS

On June 23, Ivan Fomin, sentenced to death by Minsk Regional Court, was executed. There is some evidence that during the interrogation in his case, Fomin, like many others charged with homicide, was tortured in pre-trial detention and forced to plead guilty. No witnesses were interrogated. Members of the local and regional bars expressed their indignation over falsification of investigation materials, absence of clear evidence to establish Fomin’s guilt, and egregious violations of investigative procedure. (Charter 97, June 25)

--RE-REGISTRATION—

NO NGOs RE-REGISTERED IN THE BREST REGION

As of June 22, no political parties, trade unions, or NGO have been re-registered in the Brest region. Inna Zavadskaya, a re-registration official from in the Directorate of Justice of the Brest City Executive Committee, told Belapan that many of the applications for re-registration reportedly contained irregularities and were sent back. (Belapan, June 22)

ENDORSEMENT OF NGO CAMPAIGN

As of June 24, over dozen representatives of NGOs and human rights organizations from different countries of the world, including Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Russia and Serbia, expressed their solidarity with Belarusian NGOs, protesting against Lukashenko’s January 26 decree mandating re-registration for all civic organizations. Following is the full text of the appeal of the Belarusian NGOs to participants of the OSCE Human Dimension Seminar held April 27-30 in Warsaw.

"President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has passed a decree (dated January 26, 1999) requiring all the NGOs, trade unions, and political parties to re-register before July 1, 1999. The established procedures and regulations for re-registration are in fact aimed at liquidating all independent organizations. We, representatives of Belarusian NGOs, welcome the efforts of the OSCE AMG in Minsk in defending the non-state sector in Belarus. We appeal to this esteemed seminar with the request to support these efforts. We call on the Secretariat of the OSCE, the current Chair-in-Office, and the OSCE participating states to take all possible measures in order to prevent the total ban on the activity of human rights organizations, trade unions, and other NGOs and political parties. (ILHR, June 24)

--BELARUSIAN ECONOMY--

GENERAL DIRECTOR OF STEEL PLANT ARRESTED IN ZHLOBIN

On June 21, Yuri Feoktistov, General Director of the Belarusian Steel Plant in Zhlobin (Minsk region), was arrested. A search was conducted in his apartment. According to the press-service of the Belarusian Security Council, several violations of the law were disclosed during an audit of the plant. The inspection allegedly revealed the connection between plant officials and an organized criminal group. Recently, the Belarusian Steel Plant had received 770m Austrian shillings ($41m) as a loan for reconstruction of the plant under guarantees from the Belarusian government. (Belapan, June 22)

…WHILE SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS GROUP IS SET UP

On June 24, Feoktistov was charged and put into pre-trial detention. The essence of the charges is still unknown. A Special Investigation Group has been set up to investigate the case. The Group is headed by Mikhail Medvedev, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Committee at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Alexander Lukashenko announced that he would exercise personal control over the investigation. (Radio 101.2, June 25)

BREST DRIVERS PROTEST AGAINST WAGE ARREARS

On June 24, drivers of trolleybuses in Brest suspended traffic for an hour protesting against wage arrears. Drivers earn 23m BR (about $53) per month but receive their wages with considerable delays. The Brest City Regional Committee's subsidies make up 40 percent of drivers' wages, but the Trolley Bus Department so far has not received any money from the government. The strikers warned the authorities that in case of any repression against them they would go on strike again. (Belapan, June 23)

IMF: NO BELARUS MISSION SCHEDULED

On June 22, the Belarusian State television reported that Sergei Ling, Belarusian Prime Minister, and Michel Camdessus, IMF Managing Director, met in St.Petersburg and agreed that a new mission would visit Belarus. But the local IMF official said that the IMF had no plans whatsoever to send a mission to Belarus. "The IMF Directorate did not learn anything from the meeting with PM Ling that would indicate a major policy breakthrough. No mission is scheduled for the time being," an IMF representative said. The IMF and the World Bank have criticized Belarus for its multiple exchange rate system, rigid state regulation of the economy, and heavy reliance on monetary emission rather than structural reforms to support the economy. (Reuters, June 23)

--BROTHER SLAVS--

AGREEMENT ON JOINT RUSSIA- BELARUS TV-RADIO CENTER RATIFIED

The Upper House of the Russian parliament has ratified the Russia-Belarus agreement to set up a joint television and broadcasting center. Members of the House Committee for CIS affairs believe that the agreement will provide the legal foundation for an improved information exchange of the Russia-Belarus Union. (ITAR-TASS, June 25)

--INTERNATIONAL NEWS--

YELTSIN GRANTS CLINTON KGB FILES ON OSWALD

On June 20, at the G8 summit in Cologne, Germany, President Boris Yeltsin handed President Clinton the 80 secret files containing information gathered by Russian and Belarusian intelligence agencies about Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of the President Kennedy. Historian Kermit Hall, a former member of the Assassination Records Review Board, said that documents can shed light on whether Oswald schemed to kill Kennedy while he was an American defector living in Minsk. It's not yet clear what the documents contain and whether they are the Minsk files on the Oswald surveillance or files from Moscow containing the Soviet Union's own investigation of the assassination. (AP, June 21)