To: Alexander Lukashenko
Republic of Belarus
FAX: 011 375 172 26 06 10

Cc: Amb.Kozak
FAX: +375 172 34 78 53

Cc: Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck
FAX: +375 172 72 34 98

January 9, 2001

Dear Mr. Lukashenko,

The International League for Human Rights, an international non-governmental human rights organization with consultative status at ECOSOC UN, is writing to express serious concern about the sealing of the part of Magic's (an independent publishing house) equipment, leased by Soros Foundation, on January 9, 2001. This development is especially worrying in view of the persistent rumors within Belarus that the government is planning to close all of the country's remaining independent publishing outlets.

On September 5, 1997, a contract was signed, which transferred the publishing equipment from the Belarusian Branch of the Soros Foundation to the Open Society Institute. Later, this equipment was leased to Magic. In October, 2000, the Supreme Court of Belarus closed Magic and confiscated its equipment in order to cancel the debts the Soros Foundation allegedly owed the state of Belarus. The League has repeatedly taken the position that this characterization of the "tax debts" of the Belarusian Soros Foundation is politically-motivated and unjust, since charitable, non-profit activity for education, humanitarian work, human rights, and democracy-building ought not to be taxed. In any event, the sealing of Magic equipment is unlawful since it no longer belongs to the Soros Foundation, and, therefore, cannot be used to pay the Foundation's alleged debts.

The League sees further evidence of a political motivation for this act in the earlier detention of Yuri Budzko, director of Magic, who was charged with violation of Article 167.3 of the Administrative Violations Code (violation of electoral legislation) for publishing a special issue of Rabochy, an independent newspaper, calling for boycott of the parliamentary elections. The League notes that calls for a boycott are in fact legal under the Belarus Constitution and as well as under international standards for the protection of freedom of speech and the press.

The closure of Magic will prevent eighteen newspapers from being published, including such popular independent newspapers as Narodnaya Volya and Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta. Therefore, the League views the sealing of a substantial part of Magic's equipment as yet another step in the continuing and recently stepped-up campaign to crack down on the free press in Belarus. We urge you to ensure that this and other gross violations of the basic principles of freedom of press are ended immediately. Thank you for your attention, we await your response.

Sincerely,

Catherine Fitzpatrick
Executive Director