On March 15, 1994, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus (the elected parliament) adopted a new constitution which was hailed as proof that Belarus valued democracy and respect for human rights.

Throughout 1995, the Constitutional Court made rulings pronouncing various presidential decrees unconstitutional. These were largely ignored by President Lukashenko. In July 1996, the Supreme Soviet refused President Lukashenko's demands to extend his term and limit the powers of the Constitutional Court by creating a second legislative chamber to be chosen by the president.

The 13th Supreme Soviet had 198 elected deputies (the capacity was 260 seats, but in 62 districts, elections were invalidated due to low turn-out). Under its rules of procedure, to start an impeachment motion, 70 signatures were required to petition the Constitution Court, and then a 2/3 majority vote of the Supreme Soviet would be required for an impeachment to succeed. In November 1996, fearing an impeachment campaign, President Lukashenko decided to confront the powers of the Supreme Soviet and the Constitutional Court, and held a "National Referendum" on amending the constitution to broaden the powers of the executive. International human rights monitors objected that popular referenda should deal with more specific local questions, and not address the constitution itself or the separation of powers. Shortly before the referendum was to be held in November 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled that the plebiscite's results could have the status of a recommendation, but could not be binding.

The referendum results, widely believed to be manipulated by agitators who influenced voters under the guise of ensuring voter comprehension and participation, ultimately produced a large majority of votes in favor of the president's proposals to amend the 1994 Constitution. A group of deputies then filed an impeachment petition with the Constitutional Court, but some were forced by government pressure to withdraw their signatures of consent, leaving the petition without the sufficient number of votes to be considered. The 13th Supreme Soviet was then dissolved and the new constitution adopted which authorized the president to hand-pick the lower chamber of the National Assembly (the new parliament). A group of 13th Supreme Soviet deputies formed a commission to examine the allegations of Lukashenko's unconstitutional acts, but began to suffer reprisals.

The European Union and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly have not recognized this non-elected body, but continues to recognize the disbanded 13th Supreme Soviet.

Unable to enforce its rulings on the president's unconstitutional acts, and without the sufficient number of signatures under law to consider the parliamentary impeachment appeal, the Constitutional Court was made subservient to the executive, thereby destroying the system of checks and balances and concentrating executive and legislative power in the hands of Lukashenko.

Originally, in the 13th Supreme Soviet, only 70 deputies were pro-Lukashenko. After the elected parliament was shut down, a total of 140 members applied for seats in the new National Assembly to be approved by the president. Of these, 110 were granted seats. The rest, some 90 deputies, were blacklisted (that is, there were 58 who did not apply for seats, and some 30 were not granted the slots because they were suspected of disloyalty.) There is no official, public order about their status, but there are numerous reports that they are routinely denied employment and are under surveillance. One deputy committed suicide. Another agreed to serve as an ambassador to a foreign country; still others were persuaded to mute their criticism of President Lukashenko through various threats or blandishments.

Those who have resisted the pressure have come under constant government attack, suffered the intimidation of their family members, and have been subject to detentions, beatings, and imprisonment on fabricated criminal charges.

The referendum served as an instrument of forceful installation of an illegitimate system of government in Belarus. From the legal perspective, it can be characterized as a coup d'etat, a virtual seizure of power.

Initiated by President Lukashenko, the 1996 referendum was prepared and conducted by violating numerous legislative and procedural norms.

Thus, for example, under the 1994 Constitution and the Law "On the Popular Plebiscite (Referendum) in the Republic of Belarus" only amendments and additions to the fundamental law could be put to a referendum, not a new version of the Constitution, which was basically the draft proposed by President Lukashenko.

Moreover, under the law, the results of the popular vote should not be binding, but merely a form of recommendation, that is, for the vote to be recognized as legitimate, it was necessary to obtain the approval of these results by a Constitutional majority of the lawfully-elected Supreme Soviet.

All of these laws, and many others, were violated. Without having the right to do so under the existing Fundamental Law, President Lukashenko issued decrees that made binding the decisions taken in the so-called referendum. Without authorization, on November 14, 1996, President Lukashenko relieved from his post Viktor Gonchar, the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission. In fact, the appointment or dismissal of such officials, under the 1994 Constitution was exclusively the prerogative of the Parliament. When Gonchar tried to continue to fulfill his duties, Lukashenko sent his presidential security agents to prevent him from entering the building. The chief reason for dismissing Gonchar from his post was his refusal to accept the results of the unlawful preliminary vote, and also his active campaign against the procedural violations during the preparation of the referendum and the voting.

There was yet another gross violation of procedure regarding the functioning of the Central Electoral Commission. The results of the vote should have been confirmed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commission. However, when the votes were tallied, only 10 of the 18 members of the Commission consented to sign the statement, that is, 55 percent. The executive branch simply ignored this fact.

The mass media, monopolized by the executive branch, has become virtually inaccessible for representatives of the opposition, and expresses exclusively the opinion of the presidential vertikal, or vertical line of authority. According to the European Institute of Mass Media, more than 92 percent of air time on national television and radio allocated for coverage of the referendum issues was devoted to coverage of the president’s position, 8 percent was given for neutral information, and the opposition did not receive a minute of air time.

An example of how the government ignored both legislation and the Fundamental Law was the fact that the voting on six questions in the referendum began several weeks before the date appointed by the Supreme Soviet. Citizens were forced to make compulsory appearances at their voting districts before November 24, the official date of the referendum, that is, during a period when independent observers could not monitor the voting process.

A gross violation of procedure for the referendum was that the sealing of the voting ballots was not monitored by the Central Electoral Commission which gave the executive branch wide latitude for falsification of the results of the vote. After the voting was finished, independent observers filed more than 600 reports about violation of procedure with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus. Moreover, the conducting of the referendum was financed by executive agencies, primarily from unofficial sources, bypassing electoral commissions at all levels. President Lukashenko opened a bank account to which all enterprises and organizations ere supposed to transfer funds for holding the referendum. Access to the account was open only to the presidential vertikal and administration; meanwhile the district electoral commissions, whose immediate obligation was to finance the voting procedures, did not have access to the necessary funds.

As a result of the President’s numerous violations of the Constitution and the breaking of other normative and legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus, the parliament passed a resolution on the need to remove the head of state from power for not abiding by the Constitution to which he had sworn his oath upon entering office. In order to initiate the process of impeachment and begin a review of the violations of the Constitution and laws of the country by the head of state, it was necessary to gather no less than 70 votes by the deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet. An appeal signed by 82 deputies of parliament was forwarded to the Constitutional Court; however by the next day, many of those who had signed this document withdrew their signatures, despite the face that a procedure for withdrawal had not been specified either by the Constitution or by a regulation of the legislature. The reason for the withdrawal was due to the executive branch’s activism; they didn’t stop at threats, bribes, and deceit to persuade deputies to take back their signatures.

Thus, Mecheslav Hirut, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, reported that shortly before the review of the "impeachment case," some of the vice premiers, ministers, and chairpersons of district and regional sub-committees literally hunted down deputies of the Supreme Soviet, and using blackmail, threats, and promises of jobs, demanded that they withdraw their signatures from the impeachment appeal to the Constitutional Court. Deputy Andrei Klimov stated that through a third party he was offered the post of Minister of Construction by the executive branch in exchange for removing his signature from the impeachment appeal.

Deputy Valery Shchukin reported pressure from the executive branch on the population of the town of Polotsk in the last days before the referendum. Thus, on the morning of November 21, calls were broadcast over the radio to turn out to their voting districts and support the president. Deputy Pavel Daneyko reported that before the referendum, heads of universities actively agitated students to vote from November 21-22 - before the beginning of the official vote. Viktor Gonchar provided deputies with information that nuns had visited many Minsk hospitals to agitate the patients to take part in the referendum and vote in favor of the Constitutional amendments proposed by the president.

As a result of the conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of government, the internal political situation in the country rose to a boiling point. In this high-tension situation both sides found that a mediator was necessary. In accordance with the law, such a mediator would have to be the Constitutional Court, however the latter had already found the President’s orders and decrees to be unconstitutional eight times and thus was unacceptable from the point of view of the executive branch. Some Russian politicians offered their services, including prime-minister Victor Chernomyrdin, Speaker of the Federation Council Yegor Stroev, and Gennady Seleznev, Speaker of the State Duma.

In the course of their talks with President Lukashenko, Semen Sharetsky, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, and Valery Tikhinya, Chairman of the Supreme Court, an agreement was reached according to which the Supreme Soviet would recall the impeachment order if the President would in return announce the referendum results unbinding and strictly consultative. In addition, it was decided that a Constitutional congress would be held in which representatives of the executive and the legislative bodies would take part on equal terms. The President and the Parliament gave their word not to take any steps in the meantime towards distancing each other from power.

The given agreement, which might have become the first step on the path to a resolution of this internal conflict was for all practical purposes violated by the president. The very next day after the agreement was signed Lukashenko spoke at the parliament announcing that "as head of state I will do everything within my power so that the will of the people expressed at this referendum will be binding for all branchs of the government." At the same time, having refused his responsibilities under the agreement, the president demanded the Supreme Soviet’s complete adherence to the agreement. In this manner, once again the executive branch of the government and the president’s supporters in parliament disrupted attempts at a peaceful resolution of the conflict. It became evident from this time on that the president would not compromise. As a result, almost all the president’s goals were achieved with the help of the power structure and the army.

As a result of the many falsifications and violations of procedures during the preparation and execution of the referendum, the executive branch was able to create a semblance of national support for the new version of the Constitution prepared by the President’s administration. Immediately after the vote-count was taken the government began the process of liquidating the legitimate parliament and creating a new legislative body. In accordance with the new version of the Main Law, its make-up was to be determined by the president, which constituted a gross violation of the principle of the separation and balance of powers. Deputies of the 13^th Supreme Soviet in opposition to the president were not invited to join the new legislative body. Moreover, although the presidential version of the Constitution granted the deputies the maintaining of their deputies’ powers, this condition was not met. In a few days’ time the opposition deputies were denied entrance to the Supreme Soviet. In addition, according to Viktor Homich, the chairman of a parliament commission, the President ordered that those Supreme Soviet deputies who had refused to state in writing their desire to work in the new parliament, the so-called National Assembly, were not to be accepted.

Those elected to the 13^th Supreme Soviet during additional voting held simultaneously with the referendum found themselves in an even more difficult situation. Four deputies, Gennady Grushevoi, Vladimir Tarasov, Alexander Protsevich and Yuri Trotsky, elected in accordance with constitutional and procedural norms, have to this day not been approved by the presidential Central Electoral Committee.

The formation of the so-called National Assembly was completed literally the day after the referendum. It was composed of only those deputies who supported the politics of President Lukashenko. Of the 123 parliamentarians who announced their resignation from the legitimately elected Supreme Soviet, the 110 "most loyal" were given places in the Assembly as planned for in the presidential Constitution. As a result, the lower house of this stocked parliament was composed almost completely of representatives pro-presidential faction "Soglasie" [Agreement] (58 persons), as well as the most acceptable agrarian and communist faction representatives. Representatives of the opposition parties were not to be found on the list of the 123 invited to take part in the session of the so-called National Assembly. Only 17 of those deputies who left the Supreme Soviet were not part of any faction. Seeing that the acceptance to the presidential parliament was based on loyalty to the executive branch, the deputies now presiding in parliament represent only 40% of the Belarusian electorate. According to the Constitution and the law on elections, the territory of the Republic is divided into 260 electoral regions each of which elects one representative to the Legislative body. Thus, 110 deputies represent less than half of the country’s electorate, less than 3 of the 7 million with the right to vote. Minsk, in which 36% of the voting population resides, is represented in the National Assembly by only three deputies, constituting only 3% of the congress. It is worth noting that Minsk is the most opposition-oriented city in the Republic and thus the deputies it elected cannot be accepted as representatives in the presidential parliament.

The self-proclaimed National Assembly was instated by the president in violation of the Constitution and began work immediately. First, it passed a law on the disbanding of the Supreme Soviet and the cessation of its activities. This constituted a gross violation of the rules of procedure of the legitimate parliament, which states that the disbanding of the parliament can only take place upon its own decision in agreement with a professional majority of deputies. In addition, in its first days of operation the presidentially-created parliament recalled the impeachment order from the Constitutional Court despite the fact that it no longer contained almost any of those parliamentarians whose signatures were on the court appeal.

THE VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF DEPUTIES OF THE 13^th SUPREME SOVIET NOT ENTERED INTO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Having achieved the disruption in the balance of power it needed, the executive government did not trouble itself with acting in accordance with its own illegitimately accepted version of the Constitution. For instance, the Presidential version of the Main Law states that the powers of deputies not admitted to the National Assembly are in tact to the end of the term to which they were elected. However, in May 1997, the National Assembly decided to deny those parliamentarians who had not expressed their desire to work in the presidential parliament of their deputy status. This constituted a violation of both the 1994 Constitution and the 1997 version of the Main Law under which they acted.

Moreover, the rights of deputies remaining loyal to the 1994 Constitution were violated even before the Assembly, upon the president’s initiative, passed the law "On the status of Deputies of the 13^th Supreme Soviet." From the time of the referendum the deputies in the president’s opposition had practically lost the right to hold meetings with their electorate. The executive branch is doing everything it can to stop the deputies of the Supreme Soviet from informing their electorate about the truth of the situation in Belarus.

Thus, for instance, just a month after the referendum, an attempt was made to interrogate deputies Gennady Karpenko and Stanislav Shushkevich and to bring charges against them in connection with the organization of a meeting with voters on December 8, 1996. In February and March 1997 the parliamentarians Stanislav Bogdankevich and Gennady Karpenko, representatives of the United Civil Party, were denied the right to meet with the electorate in the cities of Pruzhany and Petrikov. V. Radivonchik, the regional head of the United Civil Party in Pruzhany, announced that he and his relatives and close-ones were threatened with "seriously unpleasant" events if the meeting between Gennady Karpenko and the citizens of the city took place.

Practically speaking, members of the Supreme Soviet and the deputies who refused to co-operate with an executive government that violated the Main Law found themselves unable to continue their deputies’ activities openly. They were denied access to the Oval Hall in the House of Government, where meetings of the Supreme Soviet were to take place according to parliament rules of procedure. In addition they have no opportunity to rent a space that would provide normal working conditions. The parliamentarians appealed to the court several times asking for the reinstatement of their status and opportunity to pursue their activities. Each time they were refused. In this manner, the only legitimate legislative body in the country was forced to operate as an underground organization and so to this day.

Even so, this underground Supreme Soviet is the object of constant attacks from the executive government. The presidential vertikal and special services apply as much pressure as they can to force the deputies to cease their activities. All possible means are used: intimidation, provocation, libel and the use of force.

In February 1997, Anatoly Lebedko, vice-chairman of the Supreme Soviet’s International Affairs Commission, was brutally beaten in the entrance-way to his own home. At about 8:00pm on February 10, 1998, deputy Viktor Gonchar drove Lebedko up to his home. Having said goodbye to Gonchar, Lebedko walked into his building and took the elevator up to his floor. Two young strangers immediately attacked with a blow to the face. Without saying a word they continued to kick him after he fell to the floor.

That March well-wishers notified deputy Gennady Karpenko that the Belarusian Special Service were planing to instigate a beating of Karpenko at a demonstration scheduled for March 15. Thanks to this information, the provocation was deterred.

In February of that year deputy Vladimir Koudinov, director of the Industrial Trade Firm Ivatskevichi , was presented with fabricated charges of offering bribes to the highway police. Vladimir Koudinov was escorting a truck transporting food. The truck was stopped for a check by the highway police. The official version is that during the procedure the deputy offered a U.S. $500 bribe to the commanding officer at the station. Vladimir Koudinov was sentenced to 7 years in prison and confiscation of his property. Attorneys claim that political motives are obviously present in the case, particularly seeing how biased the judges were against the defendant in their inspection of the case. Moreover, at the time the verdict was being sought, the judges held a meeting with the prosecutor, an action which is forbidden in accordance with the acting legislature.

The former Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet has been practically denied the right to work which was added to the first section of the new Constitution. The Ministry of Justice refused to grant him a license to practice law in spite of the fact that the qualifications commission of that same ministry recognized his knowledge as satisfactory for practice. Mecheslav Grib’s complaint to the Minsk court was declined.

In February 1998, Andrei Klimov, a deputy of the 13^th Supreme Soviet and a businessman, was arrested. He is charged with the violation of the law of entrepreneur activity – the building of a residential building without a license. This is strange at the least, seeing as the whole time that construction was going on, the controlling bodies did not notice the deputy’s firm’s activities in the very center of town. The sudden "enlightenment" in the prosecutors office cannot be explained other than political motives. The deputy has been imprison throughout the investigation. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment.

At the present time, the deputies’ only means of fighting for their rights and for the rights of the voters are public meetings and demonstrations. Representatives of the government periodically deny Supreme Soviet deputies and their electorate the opportunity to organize protest actions without any reasonable basis. Presidential Decree No. 5 of March 5, 1997 "On meetings, marches, demonstrations, rallies and pickets in the Republic of the USSR" was passed in order to most effectively obstruct such demonstrations. In accordance with this decree, protest actions are forbidden almost everywhere in the center of the city as well as nearby government buildings. Violations of the decree are punished with warnings, high fines and administrative arrests. In the first three months after Decree No. 5, based on a report of the state secretary of the security council to President Lukashenko, authorities detained 367 people and Minsk courts raised over 300 cases. 121 people were put under administrative arrest with 120 fines totaling 410 million rubles (which at the time was worth about U.S. $15,000.)

The most widespread means used to put pressure on the deputies are arrests and detainment and fines for involvement in demonstrations and protest meetings. Deputies are detained even in those cases when the demonstration itself is sanctioned by the government. In the many court cases brought against the deputies, the same charges are brought once and again – the organization of mass disturbances. Almost every one of those deputies who refused to co-operate with the regime have more than once been honored by the government’s attention. Semen Sharetsky, Gennady Karpenko, Stanislav Shushkevich, Anatoly Lebedko, Victor Gonchar, Mecheslav Grib, and many others have been called to court or was charged with fines in absentia, which also constitutes a violation of the law. The communist Valery Shchukin is in the lead in this respect among the deputies of the Supreme Soviet. During almost every protest demonstrations the police used force against Shchukin, and detentions and arrests with or without reason have become the usual fare for the deputy. Over the two years since the Supreme Soviet was disbanded, Shchukin has been sentenced to short prison terms 13 times and the sum of his fines totals about 80 million rubles (about U.S. $1,500), an incredibly large sum for a Belarusian citizen. Most recently, Valery Shchukin was arrested and sentenced to tend days in prison for spray-painting "Freedom for Deputy Klimov" on the wall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in protest of his colleague’s arrest.

Other representatives of the opposition deputies’ camp have increasingly often undergone persecution. For example, during "Belarus, To Europe," a youth demonstration, Boris Giunter (of the 12the Supreme Soviet) and Anatoly Lebedko were detained and fined. The next day, representatives of the opposition marched on the anniversary of the signing of the 1994 Constitution. During the course of the procession no conflicts arose between members of the procession and police. At the head of the column were the Chairmen of the 12^th and 13^th Supreme Soviets, Mecheslav Grib and Semen Sharetsky, along with Presidium members Gennady Karpenko and Vasily Novikov, and deputies Alexander Dobrovolsky, Vasily Shlyndikov, Ludmila Gryaznova, Olga Abramova, Semen Domash, and Pavel Daneiko. Almost all of the above spoke at the meeting after the procession. Sanctions against those involved began after the march was over. On the following day, police officers visited Semen Sharetsky, chairman of the 13^th Supreme Soviet, and demanded that he sign a statement that "Citizen S. G. Sharetsky had violated the city order that forbade the march." Sharetsky refused to sign the statement, saying that the city government’s decision was "provocational."

Vasily Novikov, vice-chairman of the Supreme Soviet, was detained one evening by two police officers – a major and a captain – during a demonstration in Gorky Park organized by the Minsk chapter of the Belarusian Communist Party. He was asked to proceed to the police station. During their conversation Vasily Novikov, chairman of the organizational committee for the celebration of third anniversary of the signing of the 1994 Constitution, informed the officers that he had spoken with the chiefs of the Minsk police, General Terletsky and Col. Solonts, and that he would not sign any statements before speaking with them.

Law enforcement officers first came to the apartment of Gennady Karpenko, vice-chairman of the Supreme Soviet, on the day of the procession, March 15, at 10:10pm, with the intention of writing a police report. Karpenko informed them that, according to the law, a citizen has the right not to let anyone into his apartment and refused further conversation. The next day, the police came to the vice-chairman’s home with several police cars and dogs. However, the vice-chairman of the parliament happened not to be at home at that time. The day after that, Gennady Karpenko phoned a doctor to pay him a house-call who diagnosed him with a hypertonic crisis. The police entered his apartment at the same time as the doctor and demanded that he sign a police report which stated that he had violated the presidential decree. Their conversation was interrupted by the ambulance crew which left after taking a cardiogram.

Valery Shchukin, deputy of the Supreme Soviet, was detained two days after the procession in the Minsk concert hall. According to Shchukin, he was being followed and monitored constantly. However, remarked Shchukin, he used his "revolutionary experience and fooled his pursuers several times." After that, the police visited the apartments of his son and sister in an attempt to make the arrest.

Stanislav Bogdankevich was not only asked to admit his guilt for involvement in the unsanctioned demonstration but also to hand over firearms, which he did not own. On this occasion Bogdankevich, leader of the United Civic Party, commented that he was an exceptionally peaceful person and does not "even own a fishing pole or a butterfly net, to say nothing of a rifle."

Police were posted to the apartment of Mecheslav Grib, the ex-speaker of the Belarusian parliament, but were forced to wait 24 hours as he had gone to see his relatives for the weekend. Upon returning home, Grib was presented with a police report on which he wrote that he did not agree with the charges made against him. Grib stood trial on April 1, and was charged and fined 20 million rubles (U.S. $850) for the violation of Presidential Decree No. 5. The ex-speaker of the 12^th Supreme Soviet understood the incident as the government’s dealing with the opposition through judges and prosecutors.

During the demonstration held in honor of the 79^th anniversary of the Belarusian National Republic, March 24, 1997, nearly 100 people were beaten or detained by the police. Among them were Gennady Karpenko, vice-chairman of the 13^th Supreme Soviet. He was hit several times with billy clubs on the head and back, after which he was detained. At the police station, the emergency care group found that the deputy was undergoing a hypertonic crisis. In spite of his condition, for a long time the police refused to grant Karpenko permission to return home.

Despite the government’s constant terrorizing, the deputies of the Supreme Soviet continue their struggle and asserting and defending the rights of their colleagues and the citizens of their countries.

On June 23, Alexander Dobrovolsky (also a member of the organizational committee of Charter 97), Pavel Znavets, Anatoly Lebedko, and Stanislav Bogdankevich took part in a protest demonstration against human rights violations. The four deputies walked from the pre-trial detention center to the Ministry for Internal Affairs and the Republic Prosecutor’s Office carrying signs demanding the freedom of their colleagues Vladimir Koudinov and Andrei Klimov as well as Youth Front member Alyaksey Shydlouski, member of the Youth Front, who have all been imprisoned for political reasons. Following this demonstration, all of its participants were called to court to stand trial for violating Presidential Decree No. 5.

SUMMARY

At least twelve deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet, the legitimate parliament of Belarus which was disbanded by President Alexander Lukashenko in 1996, have been imprisoned, detained, fined or harassed for their involvement in opposition to the president. Two are currently in prison, and ten have been detained, harassed, and forced to pay heavy fines.

All of those who are being intensively harassed by the authorities today signed the deputies' petition to the Constitutional Court in 1996 calling for impeachment of President Lukashenko. Harassment of these twelve Supreme Soviet deputies and the implicit intimidation of their colleagues by example are clearly part of a politically-motivated campaign against the Belarusian opposition, instigated by the President and his administration.

INITIAL ATTEMPT AT PROSECUTION ON POLITICAL CHARGES

In July 1997, the authorities moved to attack the deputies who were participating in the unofficial impeachment commission, which had determined that 156 presidential degrees were either unlawful or violated the constitution. According to Human Rights Watch, the Belarusian prosecutor's office brought criminal charges against Viktor Gonchar and all the other commission members under Article 128 (2) of the criminal code--defamation linked with accusations of an especially grave crime--- which carries a maximum sentence of five years of imprisonment. As an unofficial body, the impeachment commission had no legal force, yet Belarusian law enforcement brought criminal charges against all of the commission's members including Viktor Gonchar, its leader, and Andrei Klimov (see below).

The investigation failed to produce any incriminating materials, and, although the case remains open, there have since been no arrests or prosecutions of commission members under this article. Meanwhile, authorities have switched their tactics from the use of clearly political articles, to charges based on alleged criminal offenses which human rights monitors say are fabricated.

IMPRISONMENT

Andrei KLIMOV, a Supreme Soviet deputy, a member of the United Civic Party, and once a businessman, has been held in pre-trial detention since February 11,1998 on charges that his company constructed buildings without a permit.. Klimov's health has deteriorated considerably under detention. Although he experiences constant chest pains, Klimov has not been hospitalized or undergone medical examination. During his time in prison, Klimov has twice held hunger strikes against his unlawful detention, but his declining health forced him to discontinue this practice.

Local human rights organizations believe that the real reason for Klimov's arrest was his active role in initiating the petition for the impeachment of President Lukashenko in November 1996. Klimov was also active in the Supreme Soviet Special Commission on President Lukashenko's constitutional violations, formed in January 1997 after the referendum. Most notably, several days before his arrest on February 11, 1998, Klimov distributed to government officials hundreds of copies of a report documenting President Lukashenko's violations of the Constitution, prepared and with commentary by Victor GONCHAR, the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Belarus. Convinced of the political motivations for his hostile treatment, Klimov refuses to concede that he is being tried for construction without a permit and, therefore, refuses to review the case materials or answer the police investigator's question about his alleged building infractions.

Belarusian KGB conducted an unauthorized search of the apartment occupied by Tatyana Leonovich, Klimov’S wife, jailed opposition deputy of the 1994 Belarusian Parliament. She had not been informed of the search and was not present at the time of the search. The government agents simply broke the door and turned her apartment upside down.

In protest against his illegal arrests, Klimov twice went on hunger strike, which he interrupted because of deteriorating health. Also to protest, he refuses to co-operate with the prosecution, to read the documents, to respond the prosecutor’s questions.

Klimov is held in two-man camera, which size is 6 square meters (60 square feet), in which five persones were placed until June 1998. His parents and wife were refused to see him by the authorities for months. His health rapidly deteriorated, however, even after it was found that Klimov developed microcardiodistrophia, he was denied treatment. Finally, he was placed into the prison hospital in July, 1998, but was soon released even despite no progress on his health condition was observed. He is denied decent food, and his relatives are banned from sending him food supplies.

Vladimir KOUDINOV, a Supreme Soviet deputy, a member of the United Civic Party, and businessman, has been imprisoned since October 1997 on charges of attempted bribery. Koudinov was stopped for a document check by highway police while accompanying his company truck which was transporting eight tons of meat. The police arrested Koudinov on the charge of offering them a bribe of 500 dollars to let the truck pass. Koudinov was tried August 8, 1997 and convicted on the criminal charge of bribery and sentenced to 7 years of prison. The trial was attended by representatives of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee who observed many violations of due process and violations of Koudinov's human rights.

Local human rights monitors believe that the real reason for Koudinov's arrest was his involvement in the attempt to impeach President Lukashenko, his failure to remove his signature from the impeachment order, and his activity in the Supreme Soviet which was disbanded by President Lukashenko as a result of the illegitimate referendum of November 1996.

Kudinov’s wife, Mrs. Zoya Kudinova, appealed the Human Rights Committee of the UN with a ciomplaint concerning violations of human and civil rights of her husband. The compaint pointed out to numerous violations in the process of Kudinov’s trial, facts of bias of the court, lack of correspondence between the statements of the court and the real course of events. Mrs. Kudinova claims that her husband is harassed by the prison authorities; which refused to arrange their meeting as it was provided by the law. She believes the authorities takes such measures to avenge Mr. Koudinov, who assists his fellow prisoners in defending their human rights before the arbitrariness of the prison authorities. Kudinova herself cannot find a job, and was threatened by unknown persone in masks on June 8, 1998. On September 19^th, after Mr.Kudinov was allowed to meet his daughters, they were searched by the police. The police confiscasted the Appeal to Belarusian Youth, which Kudinov called upon the young people of Belarus not to give up before the dictatorship and to keep fighting for democracy.

After this incident, Kudinov was beaten and incarcerated for three days. His body underwear was taken away, and he had to spend 10 days in a temperature below 10 C (50 f).

DETENTIONS AND FINES

Stanislav Bogdankevich, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and chairman of the United Civic Party, and former head of the National Bank, has been very active in the opposition movement and has been harassed by the government for his activities. Because of his political expression, Bogdankevich has been stripped of his professorship at Belarusian State University and his scholarly books cannot be published in Belarus.

After the opposition's demonstration honoring the Constitution (March 15, 1997) Bogdankevich was asked to admit his guilt for involvement in the unsanctioned demonstration and to hand over firearms, which he did not own.

On April 1, 1997, Bogdankevich was convicted of an unsanctioned picketing of several buildings on March 15 of that year, and fined for 2.6 million rubles, in spite of his plea for immunity as a deputy protected under the law.

On July 27, 1998, Bogdankevich, together with Alexander Dobrovolsky, also a deputy of the Supreme Soviet, were tried in court for carrying signs through the streets of Minsk calling for the release of fellow deputies Andrei Klimov and Vladimir Koudinov, and for Alyaksey Shydlouski. Both deputies were fined for 12 million rubles (U.S.$200).

President Lukashenko accused major opposition figures of illegal appropriation of state loans with subsequent use of the funds to finance their political campaigns. Former PM Mikhail Chigir allegedly issued $15 million of unreturned loans while being Chairman of the board of Belargoprombank. (Belorusskaja Gazeta, 15.03.99). Stanislav Bogdankevich, was accused of issuing loan of $1.8 million to his son.

Bogdankevich flatly denied allegations by Lukashenko of him or his sons taking any hard currency loans from Belarusian banks. The company that employed his son did take a loan from a bank. However, Bogdankevich accused the authorities of taking deliberate steps to ruin the company of his son so that it indeed could not repay the loan and the criminal proceeding against him could be started. In order to proceed with this plan, the company Piask (a firm that empolyed Bogdankevich’s son) was given a $1 million fine. (Belorusskaja Gazeta, 15.03.99) In a private conversation with the ILHR staff, Bahdankevich expressed concern about his safety, as he feared the arrest warrant against him had already been signed but not yet activated.

On July 27, 1998, Alexander DOBROVOLSKY, a deputy of the Supreme Soviet, together with Stanislav Bogdankevich, was tried in court for carrying signs through the streets of Minsk calling for the release of fellow deputies Andrei Klimov and Vladimir Koudinov, and for Alyaksey Shydlouski. Both deputies were fined for 12 million rubles (U.S.$200).

In July 1997, the Belarusian prosecutor brought criminal charges against Viktor Gonchar and the other deputies involved in the unofficial impeachment commission. Gonchar refused to provide information to investigators, stating that he wanted to make a report before the Supreme Soviet. According to Human Rights Watch, Gonchar said that a decree was issued compelling him to come for questioning, and the prosecutor's office conducted a search of his apartment to look for the commission's documents. Investigators found no incriminating materials, although the case remains open.

Gonchar was named chairman of the Central Election Committee by rump Supreme Soviet on January 13^th, 1999. The Commission was authorized to conduct the presidential vote in accordance to the 1994 Constitution.

On 13^th of February, Gonchar has been warned that his bid to hold presidential elections on 16 May is illegal and may be considered a conspiracy to seize power. Lukashenka, in his first response to the opposition's election initiative, said "we are strong enough to confront that rabble [and] break their necks within 24 hours." (RFE/RL). On February 25, sixteen members of the opposition election committee were arrested as they held a meeting in a cafe here in the presence of a large group of journalists. The group was accused of holding an illegal rally and violating public order. After interrogation was conducted and fines were imposed on some of the committee members, the detainees were releazed.

On March 1, after returning from the trip to Warsaw, Viktor Gonchar was arrested ans sentenced to 10 days in jail. Witnesses said police blocked Gonchar's car as he drove through the capital Minsk and smashed a window to gain entry.

On the day following his arrest, Gonchar has gone on a hunger strike to protest his detention. He refused to talk with the jail administration.)Six days later, on March 7^th. authorities have forced him to end a six-day hunger strike held to protest his arrest. Authorities allowed Zinaida Gonchar, the jailed politician's wife, to speak with him by telephone Saturday. "He had a weakened voice, and right away quickly told me that he had been forced to eat. After that, the line was suddenly cut off," she told AFP. Belarus authorities have refused release any information concerning the state of his health. The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Knut Vollebaek said last Wednesday that he was "deeply concerned" about the arrest.

Before his release on March, 10^th, the police transferred him into another detention facility where he was held in an ice-cold cell for a number of hours. Afterwards, he was beaten, taken to the city in the police car, and thrown out of the car into the snow wearing a light suit. It took him more than 1 hour to cover a one kilometer distance to his apartment. Gonchar subsequently suffered from serious health problems.

Mecheslav GRYB, a deputy and speaker of the 13th Supreme Soviet, was fined 20 million rubles (U.S. $850) for his involvement in the Constitution Day demonstration of March 15, 1997.

Supreme Soviet deputy Anatoly LEBEDKO, a member of the United Civic Party, was severely beaten in the elevator of his apartment house by two unknown assailants on February 10, 1997. The two men punched Lebedko in the face and kicked him repeatedly after he fell to the floor of the elevator. The assailants did not look through his belongings, nor did they take the briefcase he was carrying. The police came soon after Lebedko asked a neighbor to call. To avoid any suspicion, Lebedko took a blood analysis test for alcohol content. He stated his belief that the beating was not an ordinary criminal assault but was an act of intimidation sanctioned by the government, in retaliation for his politician opposition by the Belarusian government. In the spring of 1996, Lebedko had received threatening phone calls three times after a series of his writings appeared in the independent press.

On March 14, 1997, Lebedko was detained by police during an unsanctioned youth demonstration under the slogan "Belarus for Europe." In September the court reviewed Lebedko's case, ignoring his complaints that his rights were violated by the police detaining him and that his signature on the police report was forged. Although he was not present at the trial, the court ruled that he must pay a 5 million ruble fine (U.S.$100) for taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration.

Anatoly Lebedko was sentenced to pay a fine of 75 million Belarusian roubles for organizing a march to protest the proposals to return nuclear arms to Belarus. The action was organized on April,2^nd, as an alternative event to offical celebrations of the day of Russia-Belarus unity. During the course of the march, about 20 persons were beaten and arrestedm including another deputy, Valery Schukin.

On April 17, 1997, Vasily NOVIKOV, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, was put on trial for having taken part in the unsanctioned demonstration in honor of the Constitution on March 15th, which was an offense under the presidential decree (No.5) on mass demonstrations. The trial was interrupted because of inconsistencies in the police accounts. In the course of two weeks, the police rewrote their account, deleting all inconsistencies in the story, and submitted it to the court once again. Unlike the first open hearing, the newly resumed trial was closed to most journalists and Mr. Andersen, a representative of the OSCE, was also denied entrance to the trial. Novikov was fined for 5 million rubles, and his plea to change the sentence to the equivalent time of imprisonment, due to his unemployment, was dismissed

Semen SHARETSKY, chairman of the 13th Supreme Soviet, or speaker of parliament, was fined 5 million rubles for his involvement in the unauthorized demonstration honor of the 1994 Constitution on March 15, and was charged and tried under presidential decree no. 5.

On November 16, 1996, Valery SHCHUKIN, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and chairman of the Supreme Soviet Commission on National Security, submitted a statement to the Prosecutor General which called for the opening of a criminal case against President Aleksandr Lukashenko. Deputy Shchukin's appeal followed treatment he received from the president's guards upon his attempt to enter the building of the Central Electoral Commission. Shchukin has complained that since 1997 or even earlier, his private and public life has been monitored demonstratively by government agencies with video and computer monitoring systems, and his phone has been tapped. In September 1997, after filing a complaint about this treatment, Shchukin was informed by the Minsk prosecutor general's office, that he was in fact being monitored for security purposes, but that no legal action could be taken against the responsible government agency.

On March 14, 1997, deputy Shchukin was called to the Minsk Police Station, to answer questions as a witness regarding the mass demonstration that took place on March 10, 1997, where he had been assigned as a reporter working for the newspaper Tovarishch. Shchukin testified that he was forced into the crowd of demonstrators against his will when he was pushed into the picket lines by the police. Schukin's conversation with the authorities as a witness soon turned into an interrogation, and a charge was written up against the deputy for taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration. He was detained again by the police on March 16 after being followed for many days.

On April 1, 1997, while observing a mass demonstration against the decision to create an open border with Russia, police used force and inflicted bodily harm in order to drag Shchukin into a police car. Schukin's press credentials were ignored and he was taken out of the car forcibly against his will. His request to use the phone was denied. He was accused of taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration as well as "discussing socio-political events, criticizing actions of the president and the government, and gesticulating with his hands." Shchukin signed both police reports and was released. His complaint about the damage of his watch and clothing while in the custody of the police was ignored. On April 2, 1997, Valery Schukin was severely beaten by the police at a sanctioned public gathering in support of an independent Belarus.

On September 24, 1997, Schukin was fined 30 million rubles (US $600) for taking part in a demonstration with fellow journalists in support of their arrested colleague, ORT Bureau Chief Pavel Sheremet.

On November 10, 1997, a criminal case was brought against Valery Shchukin for insulting representatives of the government. The case referred to Shchukin's strong words and accusations against President Lukashenko voiced at an August 30th rally for free speech in Belarus. On November 22, 1997, Schukin was detained for several hours by police after attending a meeting of the Supreme Soviet deputies.

On December 29, 1997, Ludmila GRYAZNOVA, Gennady KARPENKO and Valery SHCHUKIN, three deputies of the Supreme Soviet, were tried on administrative charges for their involvement in a mass demonstration that took place on November 23, 1997, a year after the controversial referendum that gave Lukashenko unlimited executive powers. Valery Shchukin took responsibility for organizing the demonstration and was sentenced to ten days of administrative detention.

On February 24, 1998, Valery Schukin was detained under suspicion of organizing the picketing of a court building during the trial of the young graffiti writers Vadim Labkovich and Alyaksey Shydlouski. Shchukin pleaded innocent on the grounds that he attended the picket as a journalist and the case was ruled in his favor.

Later, Valery Schukin was arrested for spray-painting "Freedom for Deputy Klimov" on the wall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was sentenced to 10 days in prison. In all, Shchukin has been under arrest for 20 days and owes 80 million rubles (U.S. $1,600) in fines.

Schukin got 15 days sentence in December 1998 for participating in an unsanctioned workers' demonstration. Shchukin, who has been repeatedly tried and imprisoned for his opposition activities, scored two successes in his struggle for prisoners' rights while in prison. By threatening to organize a picket in the prison yard, he forced the administration to rid his cell of mice. He also made the administration provide him with a real spoon, while other prisoners were given "a sort of thimble" with which to eat

On February 24^th, Schukin appealed to Pervomaisky district prosecutor in the city of Minsk, in which he complained about the threats in his address produced by the retired general Dmitry Ivanov. During the communist rally that took place on February 21st, Ivanov publicly called to eliminate all opponents of the Communist party, including Schukin, who he personally mentioned. Further, Ivanov declared a "white-red-brown terror" against deputies of 13^th Supreme Soviet.

Stanislav SHUSHKEVICH, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, was visited at his home by the Minsk police on December 17, 1996, with the aim of extracting from him testimony of his participation in that month's public meeting between deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet and the electorate.

Shushkevich's phone was tapped for an unknown period of time before he was detained on April 2, 1997, at which time he was asked to sign testimony regarding his involvement in the March 15th mass demonstration held in honor of the 1994 Constitution. He refused to sign the police report and was released after 2 hours.

Pavel ZNAVETS, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, was detained by the police on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned public demonstration on March 15, 1997. He was released after three hours of questioning.

Znavets was detained for five days after taking part in the student protest on March 20, 1997. On March 25th he was taken out of confinement to the regional court where he was fined 13 million rubles (US $600) and sentenced to another five days in solitary confinement. On March 27th, Znavets was taken to another court where he was given an additional 5 days of detention and a second fine of 13 million rubles (US $600).