September 17, 1999

SITUATION IN MINSK: Hanchar and Krasovsky Disappear

On September 16 at approximately 11:00 p.m. Viktar Hanchar, vice-speaker of the 13th Supreme Soviet (disbanded parliament) and Anatoly Krasovsky, head of Krasika Publishing House, failed to return home as expected after leaving a sauna, and have been declared missing. Relatives and colleagues searched local police stations, hospitals, and morgues but found no trace of the pair.

Krasovsky's wife went to the site where the men were last seen, near the banya, and found some traces of broken glass on the street, and some broken car parts, and she and other colleagues believe this is glass and debris from his car. Unlike past disappearances, the government has reacted more quickly to this disappearance. Police announced on Belarusian television that a search had been opened for Hanchar. Alexander Lukashenko has said he would take this case under his control and would do everything in his power to find him.

Speculation for the motives for a possible abduction center on the fact that the 13th Supreme Soviet session was supposed to open on Sunday, September 19, and Hanchar was due to give a speech. Hanchar's current title as acting chairman of the Supreme Soviet makes him the top opposition parliament official after Semyon Sharetski, who fled to exile in Lithuania last month. As acting chair of the parliament, still recognized by Western leaders and the OSCE, he had a leading role in the talks to begin between the opposition and the Lukashenko administration.
Hanchar was also supposed to have met with U.S. Amb. Daniel Speckhard at 11:30 a.m., September 17.

It is believed that Hanchar was preparing a speech indicating that he and others were not happy with the latest developments concerning the opposition's delegation, that two parties had been added to the group (the so-called Liberal Democratic Party of Zhirinovsky and Yabloko local variants). It is feared such additions would dilute the group and confuse the negotiations. Hanchar was supposed to chair the session on Sunday, which was to confirm the mandate for the opposition's delegation to the talks with the government, and approve the two new additions. With the disappearances, the opposition will break off the talks. Opposition leaders petitioned the government to order a prosecutor's investigation opened into a possible abduction.

In other developments, Pavel Zhuk, publisher of Navyny, was summoned to meet Sheiman at the National Security Council chief Sheiman and go to see the *real* summer house of Sheiman's parents. This was Sheiman's response to an article in Navyny that claimed Sheiman owned various properties. Zhuk replied that he would be happy to meet with Sheiman, but that he'd prefer to send two reporters out to the summer house. Sheiman then refused the reporters. Colleagues feared that Zhuk would be abducted if he went himself on the trip to the dacha.

Charter 97 reported today that authorities have told international human rights groups that the government would register the Belarusian Popular Front, the largest opposition movement. However, the Front has not received the paperwork, and it may be that the Front will gain registration only if it drops the word "Belarusian" from its name in compliance with a newly amended law.
FOR FREQUENT UPDATES VISIT www.charter97.org