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Belarus Updates, 2000
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BELARUS UPDATE Edited by Victor Cole Vol. 3, No. 39 September 2000 IN THIS ISSUE: - New Wave of Repression against Opposition - Disappearances Remain Mystery - Results of Candidates Registration Campaign Announced - Belarusian Helsinki Committee at Crossroads - Spies Again - Belarusian Thrower Expelled from Olympics --HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS- NEW WAVE OF REPRESSION Viasna Human Rights Center reported that on September 15 activists of the United Civic Party, held an unsanctioned picket on Fabrichnaya Street in Minsk to mark the first anniversary of the disappearances of Victor Gonchar and Anatoly Krasovsky, who vanished on September 16, 1999. Fearing a major public upheaval, the authorities sent to the picket site a number of uniformed and plainclothes police officers. During the picketing, two unidentified assailants attacked Anatoly Lebedko, UCP's chair, who tried to defend himself. Police standing nearby did nothing to assist Lebedko or to apprehend the attackers. Other picketers came to his rescue. During the fighting, which was witnessed by various journalists and OSCE representatives, Vyacheslav Sivchik, BPF Adradzhenne deputy chair, suffered bodily injuries. Lebedko is still in hiding. The apartment building, where he lives, and UCP headquarters are under around-the-clock police surveillance. (Viasna, September 16-17) MASS DETENTIONS OF OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS IN MINSK Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper, reported that on September 15-16, the first day of the election campaign, in accordance with Art. 45 of the Belarusian Electoral Code whereby citizens are allowed to agitate for or against the candidates during the election campaign, representatives of the united democratic opposition held a series of public meetings with voters in different parts of Minsk. The organizers had submitted the proper applications to the District Departments of Internal Affairs, informing the authorities about the time and place of the meetings. Although such gatherings are not prohibited by election legislation, however, all of them were forcefully disrupted by the police. According to Viasna Human Rights Center, about two dozen opposition activists were detained on September 15-16 and brought to police stations around the city for calling on Belarusian citizens to boycott the October 15 election and for distributing opposition printed materials. Among them were Pavel Znavets and Ludmila Gryaznova, both deputies of the 13th Supreme Soviet; Lyavon Barshchewski and Lyavon Sadowsky, BPF activists; Yevgeny Afnagel, activist of the Malady Front; Zoya Chila, Vladimir Kishkurny, Marina Sinitsyna, Sergei Karbovski, Sergei Shinkevich, Valentin Gatovkin, Timofei Akudovich, a minor, Valery Zherbin, Sergei Mohnov, Maxim Abramchuk, a minor, Pavel Ukhnevich, a minor, Valentin Golubev, Alexander Petrov, Nikita Sasim, Nikolai Markovnik, Leonid Kazakov, Sergei Alfer, Andrei Bazhanov. All detainees were videotaped and received court summons. Some of them have also been beaten and searched. Gennady Barbarich, Belapan correspondent, and Vladimir Glod, Radio Liberty journalist, were detained along with Pavel Znavets, 13th Supreme Soviet deputy, and forcefully transported to the Leninski District Internal Affairs Directorate. They were forbidden to inform their editorial offices, relatives, or friends about their detention, and released in a few hours. On September 19, the Leninski District Court of Minsk acquitted Pavel Znavets, who was charged with holding an unauthorized picket marking the first anniversary of Gonchar's and Krasovsky's abduction, reported Charter 97. In the courtroom, the deputy insisted that since the action participants did not pass out any printed materials did not chant any anti-governmental slogans, it should not be regarded as picketing. On September 21, the Tsentralny District Court fined Lyavon Barshchewski 13,000 BYR (about $13) for an alleged "violation of the electoral legislation" under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code. Trials of other opposition activists have been postponed. (Viasna, Nasha Svaboda, Charter 97, September 18-20) On September 19-20, the democratic opposition held nine more pickets in Minsk, passing out special issues of Rabochy, Nasha Svaboda, and Narodnaya Volya, independent newspapers, devoted to the opposition-staged boycott campaign of the October 15 election, reported Charter 97. All pickets were organized in compliance with the Belarusian Electoral code, which only requires a written notification submitted to the local authorities prior to the meeting. (Viasna, Charter 97, September 19-22) On September 20, three teenagers were brutally beaten by law-enforcement agents in the Yugo-Zapad residential area on the outskirts of Minsk, while collecting signatures required by law to initiate a nationwide referendum in support of the four requirements established by the OSCE for a free and democratic vote in Belarus, reported Charter 97. A few plain-clothed law-enforcers approached the boys, and after showing their IDs, knocked them off their feet. (Charter 97, September 21) EIGHT BPF MEMBERS ARRESTED IN MINSK, TWO IN GOMEL BPF Adradzhenne press service reported that on September 21, at the intersection of Skaryna and Varvasheni Streets in Minsk, eight BPF members were detained by the police while holding a meeting with voters and passing out a special issues of Rabochy, Nasha Svaboda, and Narodnaya Volya, independent newspapers, and leaflets, containing calls to boycott this fall parliamentary election. Despite the presence of the OSCE representatives, Ales Belyatsky, BPF deputy chair and head of Viasna Human Rights Center, Yuri Khadyka, BPF deputy chair, Sergei Shinkevich, Sergei Mohnov, Valentin Stefanovich, Elena Reshetnikova and two other activists were accused of "violation of the electoral legislation" under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, and taken to the Partizanski District Department of Internal Affairs. On the same day, two opposition members were arrested in Gomel, while holding a meeting with voters, reported Charter 97. The police confiscated 16,000 copies of Rabochy. The activists were brought to the nearest police station and charged with an administrative offence; a police report was filed on them. On September 22, Ales Belyatsky and Sergei Shynkevich, activist of the BPF Adradzhenne, were fined 5,000 BYR (about $5) each. Others to stand trial soon. (BPF Adradzhenne, September 22) BSDP HEADQUARTERS IN MINSK BURGLARIZED BY ARMED INTRUDERS On September 21, armed raiders burglarized the Minsk headquarters of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, reported Charter 97. In a midnight break-in, two men rushed into the BSDP's office, took $6,000 in cash, removed hard drives from computers, and seized the membership lists, and party literature. Three party members and a security guard were forced to lie on the floor. On September 22, Nikolai Statkevich, BSDP's chair, accused the regime of masterminding the robbery. He believes that the party member lists, kept secret from the authorities, appeared to be the main goal of the raid, he said. (Charter 97, September 22) TRADE UNION NEWSPAPER EDITOR AND GENERAL COUNSEL FINED On September 19, the Pervomaisky District Court of Minsk fined Victor Ivashkevich, editor-in-chief of Rabochy (Worker), a newspaper of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union, 13,000 BYR (about $13) and Dmitry Kostukevich, Rabochy's general counsel, 5,200 BYR (about $5) for an alleged "violation of the election legislation" under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, reported Charter 97. Yury Budko, general director of the Magic, a private publishing house, was acquitted. On September 13, Minsk police raided the publishing house, confiscating 112,000 copies of a special issue of Rabochy, devoted to the opposition-staged boycott campaign of the October 15 election (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 38). Ivashkevich, Kostukevich, Budko, and Stepan Zhernosek, executive director of the publishing house, were detained and taken to the Pervomaisky District Department of Internal Affairs. Zhernosek was soon released. "By imposing this punishment, the regime once again displayed its hypocrisy," said Ivashkevich, alluding to the numerous assurances given by the Belarusian authorities to the international community that boycotting is lawful in Belarus. While the fines imposed were nominal, 112,000 copies of Rabochy were not returned and the police was also ordered by the court to confiscate all 400,000 copies of the newspaper's edition with information about the boycott. (Charter 97, September 19) LOCAL OPPOSITION ACTIVIST ARRESTED IN SLUTSK On September 15, Alexander Kotlyarov, chair of the Slutsk branch of the United Civic Party, was arrested at a meeting with voters in downtown Slutsk, Minsk Region, and charged with "violation of the election legislation" under Art. 167, para 3 of the Belarusian Administrative Code, reported Viasna Human Rights Center. The activist was taken to the court, where he dismissed the charges as groundless, saying that he had submitted a written notice about the meeting to the district election committee and the Slutsk Department of Internal Affairs in advance, and demanded a lawyer. The judge postponed the hearing. (Viasna, September 18) TWO OPPOSITION LEADERS ARRESTED IN VITEBSK On September 19, Boris Hamaida and Vladimir Pleschenko, both members of the Vitebsk branch of the Conservative Christian Party led by Zyanon Paznyak, were detained, while collecting signatures in support of the Act of Independence adopted on July 29 by the All-Belarusian Congress, reported Charter 97. The activists were taken to the police station and charged with staging an unsanctioned picket. (Charter 97, September 20) U.S. CRITICIZES BELARUS FOR INTIMIDATING OPPOSITION On September 20, in remarks to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, David T. Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE, expressed doubt about the regime's stated commitment to tolerate advocacy of a boycott of legislative elections on October 15. Johnson cited the recent seizure of 112,000 copies of Rabochy, an independent trade union newspaper, for publishing information about the boycott, sentence of its editor-in-chief Victor Ivashkevich and Dmitry Kostukevich, Rabochy's general counsel, as well as an attack at Anatoly Lebedko, prominent Belarusian opposition activist, and the arrest of more than 20 persons for distributing leaflets that advocated a boycott. He recalled a statement made by Sergei Martynov, Belarusian Deputy Foreign Minister, at the Third Technical Conference on August 30, in which the Belarusian official promised that those urging to boycott the election would not be punished. "Despite the Belarusian Government's professed commitment to free and fair elections, the events of this past week convincingly demonstrate that Belarus is moving farther away from meeting the four criteria established by the Troika," concluded Amb. Johnson. (USIA, September 21) US STATE DEPARTMENT URGES TO INVESTIGATE DISAPPEARANCES In recognition of the first anniversary of the disappearance of Victor Gonchar (See Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 38), the U.S. State Department called on the Belarusian authorities "to investigate expeditiously, thoroughly, and openly all the disappearances and punish those truly responsible for them." "Victor Gonchar and Anatoly Krasovsky, head of the Krasika Publishing House, vanished on September 16, 1999, shortly after Alexander Lukashenko called for a crackdown on 'opposition scum'," Richard Boucher, State Department Spokesman, pointed out in a September 15 statement. Following is the text of Boucher's statement: "September 16 marked the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Victor Gonchar, 13th Supreme Soviet Deputy Chair and Belarusian democratic opposition leader. Shortly before his disappearance, Mr. Gonchar phoned his wife to tell her he would be home soon. That was the last time anyone heard from Mr. Gonchar or his associate Anatoly Krasovsky, who also vanished. Immediately prior to their disappearance, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko had publicly called for a crackdown on 'opposition scum.' In the year since Messrs. Gonchar and Krasovsky disappeared, the Lukashenko regime has ignored repeated calls by the international community to account for these men. Neither has the regime taken any serious steps to investigate the disappearances of either opposition leader and former interior minister Gen. Yury Zakharenko (See Belarus Update Vol. 2, No. 19), who also disappeared in 1999, or ORT journalist Dimitry Zavadsky (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 28-33), who disappeared this past summer." "We regret that the authorities in Belarus continue to make non-credible allegations that the democratic opposition is responsible for these disappearances. The regime has also banned an opposition rally scheduled for September 16 to mark the anniversary of Messrs. Gonchar's and Krasovsky's disappearance. Such a ban is inconsistent with Alexander Lukashenko's promise of a "period of peace" before upcoming parliamentary elections. We again renew our call to the Belarusian authorities to investigate expeditiously, thoroughly, and openly all the disappearances and punish those truly responsible for them. We also renew our commitment to the Gonchar, Krasovsky, Zakharenko and Zavadsky families not to forget their loved ones." (USIA, September 15) OSCE ON GONCHAR DISAPPEARANCE The OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus notes that on September 16, 1999 Viktor Gonchar, First Deputy Chair of the 13th Supreme Soviet, and his friend Anatoly Krasovsky disappeared. One year has passed without any explanation of or new information about this dramatic and disturbing event. The disappearance of political figures continues to be an obstruction to confidence building in Belarus. More effective measures and convincing action by the government is needed. On this occasion Amb. Stefan-Bastl, representing the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, delivered a statement at the OSCE Permanent Council Meeting in Vienna on September 14. In her statement, she outlined that Gonchar and Krasovsky disappeared under suspicious circumstances and their cases are not the only cases of traceless disappearance of opposition members in Belarus. On May 7, 1999, Yuri Zakharenko, a former Minister of the Interior, and on July 7, 2000, Dmitry Zavadsky, a cameraman of ORT, Russian TV channel, and a citizen of Belarus, disappeared. Until now, the Belarusian authorities have uncovered no leads nor provided any accounting of the whereabouts of these persons. She strongly urged the Belarusian Government to investigate seriously the disappearances of these political figures. (OSCE, September 15) HELMS MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF DISAPPEARANCES IN BELARUS On September 18, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement to mark the one year anniversary of the disappearance of Victor Gonchar and Anatoly Krasovsky: "This past Saturday, September 16th, marked the passage of twelve months since the disappearance of Victor Gonchar and Anatoly Krasovsky, two prominent members of the democratic opposition in Belarus. These freedom fighters have not been heard from since President Lukashenko, in a drooling rage on Belarussian television, publicly ordered his state security services to crack down 'on the opposition scum.'" "The disappearance of Gonchar and Krasovsky were preceded by the disappearance of Gen. Yuri Zakharenko, former Interior Minister-turned opposition leader. And this summer, Belarus was shocked by the disappearance of Dimitry Zavadsky, a journalist known for his critical reporting on the Lukashenko regime. This anniversary is a sad reminder that democracy and freedom still cannot be taken for granted in Europe. In a region of consolidated and emerging democracies, Belarus, under the fanatical dictatorship Alexander Lukashenko, has instead emerged as a throwback to Soviet repression, censorship, and command economy." "The pain and suffering of the children, wives, and loved ones of Gonchar, Krasovsky, Zakharenko, and Zavadsky are tragically reminiscent of the pain and suffering endured by the families of those who disappeared in the killings of innocent Belarusians at Kurapaty killings from an era who cruelest vestiges are today being reanimated by Lukashenko." "The families of Gonchar, Krasovsky, Zakharenko, Zavadsky and others who suffer in Belarus because of their commitment to freedom are in our thoughts and prayers. Tomorrow's dark anniversary should remind us all of the moral imperative of supporting those struggling to bring democracy and freedom to Belarus." (Congressional Records, September 19) EU SLAMS BELARUS OVER MISSING OPPOSITION FIGURE On September 18, the European Union criticized the Belarusian government for failing to track down Victor Gonchar. "The European Union has on several occasions called on the Belarusian authorities to take all the necessary measures to cast light on this disappearance, and on others like it," the EU said in a statement. "The EU presidency deplores the fact that no progress has been made in this case, one year after the disappearance," it added. (UN, September 18) LUKASHENKO OFFICIAL EVALUATES RESULTS OF REGISTRATION CAMPAIGN On September 17, in an interview to the Belarusian state TV, Lydia Yermoshina, Chair of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, announced the end of the registration campaign. Yermoshina said that 110 local electoral commissions have registered 551 candidates, while denying registration to 221 applicants, 150 of which have filed complaints with the Central Commission, which would review them promptly. On average, five candidates are registered per each electoral district. Yermoshina mentioned political parties with the largest representation: the Liberal Democratic Party (86 registered candidates out of 109 nominated), the Party of Communists of Belarus (68 out of 73), the Communist Party of Belarus (38 out of 48), the Republican Party (13 out of 19), the Agrarian Party (12 out of 16), the Republican Party of Labor and Justice (10 out of 14), the Belarusian Patriotic Party (9 out of 13), the Social Democratic Party of People's Accord (4 out of 12). Yermoshina stressed that the commissions registered some opposition figures despite "some shortcomings" in the signatures lists and other documents presented by opposition candidates. According to her, the Belarusian legislation is "flexible enough" to allow this. Illustrating the commissions' leniency, she mentioned that despite the fact that the documents presented by former Premier Mikhail Chigir and his wife, Julia, contained "several mistakes," he was registered [she was not]. Another example of such "legislation flexibility," [a.k.a. "legal inconsistency" Ed.] according to Yermoshina, is the ban on election boycotts in the Administrative Offenses Code and the lack of such a ban in the Electoral Code. Yermoshina expressed her confidence that the opposition's calls to boycott the vote would only draw voters' attention to the poll and boost turnout. "As a voter and citizen, I personally think that all these calls to boycott will play a completely opposite role and it will only be more interesting for voters to take part in the election," she said. Under the Belarusian Electoral Code, fifty percent plus one voter must take part in the poll to make it valid. Alexander Lukashenko praised the work of the Central Commission and reported to compatriots that "those, who with support from the West, tried to provoke us and create tension in the country, failed." (Belapan, September 18) MANY OPPOSITION CANDIDATES REFUSED REGISTRATION On September 18, Mikhail Myasnikovich, head of the Lukashenko administration, told diplomats accredited in Minsk that the authorities created "absolutely equal conditions" for all candidates running for the parliament, reported Interfax. But the words of Mikhail Myasnikovich contradict with reality, which surpassed worst expectations of the democratic opposition. Belarusskaya delovaya gazeta, an independent weekly, reported on September 19 that 41 out of 58 representatives of the democratic opposition have been denied registration. The list of rejected candidates include Oleg Volchek, director of the Public Legal Aid Association, Gary Pogonyailo, prominent Belarusian human rights advocate, who left the Belarusian Helsinki Committee to participate in the October 15 election, Julia Chigir, wife of Mikhail Chigir, Nina Stuzhinskaya, deputy chair of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, Gennady Grushevoi, president of the Children of Chernobyl Foundation, Vladimir Basharimov, a leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party, Tatyana Vanina, chair of the movement of the Belarusian Women For the Revival of the Fatherland, Vladimir Goncharik, chair of the Belarusian Federation of Trade Unions, Gennady Muratov, ex-chair of the Vitebsk branch of the United Civic Party, Leonid Zlotnikov, an expert at the Institute of Social, Economic and Political Studies, and others. The official reasons for denial of registration sounded similar in all cases. The district electoral commissions that considered the applications refused registration on the pretext that applicants failed to submit the required number of valid signatures or copies of their tax returns. In some cases, no specific reason for refusal was given. "We should elect a professional parliament, not a class of bad students, who cannot even file the necessary documents," Yermoshina said. Only six out of 16 members of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party have been registered. Nikolai Statkevich, BSDP chair, called it a "wanton slaughter" of the Party's candidates. Although Statkevich himself was registered, he intends to withdraw his candidacy if the rejected BSDP members are not allowed to participate in the parliamentary race. "I am not going to help Lukashenko to create a democratic facade for the vote," Statkevich said in an interview to Belapan. Vasily Shlyndikov, deputy chair of the United Civic Party, told a news conference that the authorities refused the registration to "the most educated and well-prepared for the parliamentary work opposition activists." "Now, we have no alternative but to join the boycott of the election, while supporting those who has not been weeded by the regime," he added. (Belapan, BDG, Interfax, September 18-19) OSCE TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT MISSION STARTS ASSESSING ELECTION PROCESS Belapan reported on September 19 that the limited technical assessment mission, sent by OSCE's Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to make an objective assessment of the fairness of the election process in Belarus, has started its work. Upon her arrival to Minsk, Elisabeth Rasmusson, head of the mission, stressed that the group members are not election observers. "The Belarusian authorities have not made enough progress in the preparation for this fall election to justify an observation mission," she told reporters in Minsk. A small team of election experts will evaluate the next month's parliamentary election with respect to the international election standards to which Belarus is a party. They will work in close cooperation with the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus as well as with the Parliamentary Troika consisting of representatives of the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. (Belapan, September 19) OPPOSITION ASKS OBSERVERS TO IGNORE ELECTORAL FARCE On September 19, Semyon Sharetsky, speaker of the 13th Supreme Soviet who fled to Vilnius in July 1999, asked international observers not to attend the country's October 15 election to avoid giving credibility to a process that is a "travesty of democracy." "Europe should keep in mind that the Lukashenko regime misrepresents to Belarusians the arrival of the OSCE technical mission as the arrival of the distinguished international observers, which, in turn, is portrayed as a priori recognition of the election," Sharetsky told a news conference in Vilnius. (BNS, September 20) BHC LOSES ITS PROMINENT MEMBERS On September 16, at the Assembly of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC), a Minsk-based NGO affiliated with the International Helsinki Federation, 25 organization's members terminated their membership, accusing BHC's leadership of pursuing personal political ambitions and having discredited the organization by deciding to run for the Belarusian National Assembly this fall, reported Belapan. Yury Khadyka, deputy chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, Alexander Potupa, vice-president of the Belarusian Association of Entrepreneurs, Vladimir Khalip and Yury Khashchevatsky, both prominent Belarusian filmmakers, view the BHC leadership's involvement in the fall election as providing assistance to the regime in achieving its purpose of legitimization in the eyes of the international community and intend to set up a new human rights organization called Helsinki-XXI [21st Century]. "The BHC's transformation into a small collaborationist party is a serious blow to the development of civil society in Belarus," the group said in a statement. "It is a deplorable fact that the human rights organization itself has become a generator of human rights violations," they said. (Belapan, September 17) AUTHORITIES BAN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CARAVAN Viasna Human Rights Center reported that the authorities banned the Next Stop-New Century, an international educational caravan scheduled for September 8-10 in Grodno and Mogilev, which was organized by Next Stop-New Life, a Belarusian youth NGO in cooperation with Quest for Peace, a Swedish NGO. In late August, the State Committee of Youth Affairs informed the organizers that they should apply to local authorities for a permission to stage the festive. Upholding a deep-rooted tradition of hypocrisy cherished by the regime, the Committee at the same time sent a letter to the local City Councils, " advising them not to support the caravan. (Viasna, September 15) AT HOME IN BELARUS- BELARUSIAN KGB CAPTURES SPY FROM UNNAMED COUNTRY On September 19, the Belarusian KGB said in a statement that it had arrested a foreign spy for trying to recruit agents among Belarusian citizens, but did not name the suspect's country of origin. "The foreign citizen had been arrested on the basis of evidence that proves his attempts to recruit agents among the locals, give them equipment to work with and pay them," the KGB said. On the same day, Alexander Lukashenko met KGB chief Vladimir Matskevich, demanding from the secret police "more devotion to fighting various extremists capable of destabilizing the situation in the country," reported Interfax. In recent years, several foreign diplomats and workers for charity organizations accredited in Belarus have been detained and expelled from the country on espionage charges. (Belapan, Interfax, September 20) BELARUS URGES BRITAIN TO EXTRADITE EX-CHIEF OF NATIONAL BANK On September 18, Alexei Taranov, Spokesman for the Belarusian Prosecutor-General Office, told representatives of the foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Minsk that the Belarusian Prosecutor-General Office has urged the British to extradite Tamara Vinnikova, former head of the Belarusian National Bank, reported Belapan. Vinnikova, who joined Lukashenko's team as a central banker at the end of 1995, was arrested on January 14, 1997, on charges of abuse of power, forgery, and large-scale embezzlement. After being held in a KGB detention center for 10 months, she was released due to illness. She mysteriously vanished while under de facto house arrest on April 8, 1999. Eight months later, she reappeared abroad under equally murky circumstances, denouncing Lukashenko in her interviews. She said, in particular, that her arrest was brought about by her unwillingness to go along with some shady deals that she claims cost the country $300 million. In early September, Vinnikova filed a complaint with the Council of Europe asking it to consider in court all charges brought against her by the Lukashenko regime (See Belarus Update Vol. 3, No. 37). (Belapan, September 18) BELARUSIAN HAMMER THROWER EXPELLED FROM OLYMPICS In the first drug busts of the Sydney Games, a former Olympic weightlifting champion from Bulgaria was stripped of his silver medal and a hammer thrower from Belarus were kicked out, AP reported from Sydney. There have been a series of doping suspensions and withdrawals prior to the Olympics but Wednesday's expulsions were the first drug positives recorded during the games themselves. Vadim Devyatovsky, 23, finished second in the hammer at the junior world championships in 1996. This season, he has improved his performance from 251 feet-10 1/2 inches to 266-11. The IOC said Devyatovsky tested positive for Norandrosterone and Norethiocholanolone -- precursors of nandrolone. His sample was 20 times above the permitted threshold, the IOC said. Ivanov and Devyatovsky were the first athletes banned by the IOC as a result of tests conducted during the games. (AP, September 20) --CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS-- October 1: opposition will stage the Freedom March-3 in Minsk October 8, 14: a range of rallies under the slogan "Yes to Election, No to Farce" will be held in all Belarusian regions ********************************************************************** The Belarus Update is a regular news bulletin of the Belarus Human Rights Support Project of the International League for Human Rights. The League, now in its 59th year, is New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations and ILO. The Belarus project was established to support Belarusian citizens in making their cases before the U.S. government and public and international fora and intergovernmental organizations regarding Alexander Lukashenko's wholesale assault on human rights and the rule of law in Belarus. For more information e-mail belarus@ilhr.org or call (212) 661-0480 or fax (212) 684-1696 or visit our web site at www.ilhr.org Back**