INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

BELARUS UPDATE
Edited by Victor Cole

Visit our new, expanded Belarus portal website, www.belarusupdate.org Here you will find regularly-updated news and views on the rapidly-changing situation in Belarus, and also find links to other sites in English, Belarusian, and Russian to help you understand this strategically-important Slavic nation in the coming months leading up to the presidential elections.

Vol. 4, No. 24
June 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

- Allegations Surface: Regime Orders Political Killings
- Professor Detained While Trying to Cross Border
- Parliamentarian Goes to Jail for Three Months
- Students Charged With Hooliganism For Distributing Newspaper
- Five Zubr Activists Detained in Brest
- Local Activist Gets Heavy Fine For Displaying National Flag
- Opposition Members Detained In Dzerzhinsk
- Presidential Elections News

-HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPOSITION NEWS--

REGIME ORDERS POLITICAL KILLINGS, SAY PROSECUTORS WHO FLED

On June 11, Belarusian independent newspapers, wire services, and human rights organizations reported receiving an e-mail containing an interview with Dmitry Petrushkevich, a member of the investigation team of the Belarusian Prosecutor's General Office who has since fled the country, and Oleg Sluchek, a former investigator who also fled, who have accused the Lukashenko regime of forming a death squad to murder its political opponents. The former investigators said that after the November 1996 referendum, Yury Sivakov, then Interior Minister, carried out the order of Viktor Sheiman, former secretary of the Belarusian State Security Council and currently the Belarusian Prosecutor General, to form a special group. The group included Valery Ignatovich and Maksim Malik, both former officers of the Almaz (Diamond) Special-Assignment Police Force, and was headed by Dmitry Pavluchenko, another former Almaz officer. The two former prosecutors have claimed that Dmitry Zavadsky, ORT cameraman; Viktor Gonchar, a 13th Supreme Soviet deputy chair, his business associate Anatoly Krasovsky, and Yuri Zakharenko, former Interior Minister, were killed by Ignatovich, Malik, and their accomplices.

According to the e-mail, the group was ordered to design a plot for an "ideal" abduction, which would leave no evidence of any crime, said Sluchek. It was decided to shoot the victims in the head with a type of gun used to carry out death sentences. [The death penalty is still in effect in Belarus and is carried out by execution before a firing squad.-Ed.] The gun was usually given to Pavluchenko for a day or two and then would be returned after the order for an execution was carried out. Certain mafia leaders were chosen as guinea pigs for the "dress rehearsal." The first underworld crime figure to disappear was a famous thief known by his nick-name, Schavlik. Then, the "death squad" killed another notorious criminal, Mamontenok, and other, lesser known lawbreakers in Belarus. The high-ranking government officials who served as the patrons of the death squad approved the scheme, and the assassins were given the "honorable assignment" to abduct and murder Zakharenko, Gonchar and Krasovsky, and later the journalist Zavadsky. Pavluchenko was receiving orders directly from Sivakov, who in turn, was instructed by Sheiman. After Sivakov's dismissal the group's activities were supervised by the new Interior Minister, Vladimir Naumov. In all, the group committed over 30 murders and armed robberies.

According to Petrushkevich, on May 13, 2000, the group abducted Alexander Grachev, the department head of the Belarusian Ministry of Culture. The abduction was carried out by a group of five or six people, who used an ambulance vehicle and acted openly. Grachev was taken to the Northern Cemetery outside Minsk, where the criminals pointed a gun to his head and threatened to kill him. Pavluchenko was arrested after Grachev identified him as one of his kidnappers. His arrest warrant was signed by Mikhail Snegir, Deputy Prosecutor General. In November 2000, Pavluchenko was placed in a KGB jail, where he was personally interrogated by then Prosecutor General Oleg Bozhelko, who demanded information about Zavadsky's whereabouts. After that interrogation, there seemd little doubt that Zavadsky had been murdered and his body, along with bodies of Gonchar, Krasovsky and Zakharenko, were buried on the Northern Cemetery in Minsk. [A persistent rumor in Minsk had it that the disappeared were executed and buried in a regular cemetery, possibly under existing graves, rather than dumped in the woods, under the theory that hiding a body in plain sight in an actual cemetery was a clever ruse-Ed.]

But when the Prosecutor's General Office and the KGB made known their intention to find the bodies using special equipment provided by Russian specialists, Lukashenko fired Vladimir Matskevich, then the chief of the Belarusian State Security Council (KGB), and replaced Oleg Bozhelko, Prosecutor General, with Viktor Sheiman. Pavluchenko was released from his duties upon Sheiman's order.

Sluchek confirmed that the investigators found a shovel stained with Zavadsky's blood in the trunk of Ignatovich's car. He believes that Lukashenko ordered that Zavadsky be kidnapped and killed, because Zavadsky was at one time the cameraman who worked most closely with the president, but left him for ORT, in revenge for his "betrayal" and for his subsequent anti-Lukashenko reporting. "Lukashenko never forgets and never forgives," Sluchek commented. Ignatovich and Malik are now in custody awaiting trial for the alleged abduction of Zavadsky and is being visited frequently by Interior Minister Naumov, who prefers keep to himself their confidential talks.

On June 14, Petrushkevich and Sluchek e-mailed copies of documents relating to the Zavadsky case and pictures of their interview to opposite web sites and newspapers (see www.charter97.org). Radio Racyja reported that the former investigators and their families left Belarus, fearing for their lives.

Alexei Taranov, head of the Prosecutor's General Office press service, has confirmed to Interfax that Petrushkevich and Sluchek indeed worked at the Office. The Belarusian Interior Ministry dismissed allegations that top security officials have been plotting kidnappings and the assassinations of dissidents. Naumov said that he considers the information about his personal involvement in political disappearances "deceitful and inauthentic." (Charter 97/Belapan/Viasna Human Rights Center/Nasha Svaboda/Radio Racyja/Interfax, June 11-15)

For more on the latest revelations about the disappearances, visit www.belarusupdate.org

PROFESSOR DETAINED WHILE TRYING TO CROSS BORDER

On June 10, Professor Yury Bandazhevsky, former rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute, was detained by border guards while allegedly attempting to illegally cross the Belarusian-Ukrainian border at the Novaya Guta crossing point, reported Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta. According to boarder guards, Bandazhevsky was trying to leave Belarus under the name of Ukrainian national Ivan Kryachkov. Three Ukrainian citizens who accompanied him in two cars were also arrested. Bandazhevsky's wife, Galina, told journalists in Gomel that her husband fell victim to a well-prepared provocation, carried out by the secret services to discredit him before announcement of his sentence during a final hearing on June 18. According to her, on June 10, Bandazhevsky left home to take a train to Minsk in order to meet his colleagues and discuss excerpts from his new book. He planed to return to Gomel the next day to take part in the court hearing. Bandazevskaya believes that her husband was kidnapped and forcefully taken to the border. She said that in a phone call from the border he said, uncharacteristically: "We must be grateful to the border guards." Bandazevskaya rejected speculations that fearing severe punishment, the scientist wanted to leave the country. "After being released on December 28, 1999, my husband had plenty of time to escape, but he does not consider himself guilty and is not afraid to face his fate," she said.

On June 12, after three days in custody, Bandazhevsky stood trial on charges of violating the regulations of approaching the state border under Art. 184 of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code, a minor offence punishable by small fine or reprimand. He was not allowed a meeting with his attorney, Alexander Baranov. The criminal case against Bandazhevsky and Professor Vladimir Revkov, his former deputy, who have been studying radiation problems, was initiated in July 1999. Revkov was the first one to be arrested. Bandazhevsky was charged on the basis of the former deputy rector's testimony, which Revkov later retracted. The prosecution claims the two took a total of $200,000 in bribes. Many international and domestic observers believe that the charges against the scientists were in fact politically-motivated, in retaliation for their revealing numerous facts indicating the misuse of funds for combating radiation. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, June 13)

PARLIAMENTARIAN GOES TO JAIL FOR THREE MONTHS

On June 12, Valery Shchukin, 60, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet and a reporter for Narodnaya Volya, an opposition newspaper, went to jail for three months on charges of "malicious hooliganism" under Art. 339, par. 1, of the Penal Code declared on March 15 by the Tsentralny District Court of Minsk and upheld on April 27 by the Minsk City Court. On January 16, 2001, Shchukin was refused admission to a press conference held by Vladimir Naumov, the Belarusian Interior Minister. Despite Shchukin's press credentials and the Law On Press and Other Media, which allows free access to such press-conferences for all journalists, a police spokesman by the last name of Bykov said the event was open only to representatives of the state-run media. The police then detained Shchukin at the entrance to the building where the press conference was to take place, knocked him to the ground, and twisted his arms behind his back. While trying to subdue Shchukin, the policemen accidentally broke the glass entrance door. As a result, Shchukin sustained several deep lacerations. According to eye-witnesses, Schukin lost a significant amount of blood during the twenty-minute interval before the ambulance arrived, and lay on the ground while the policemen continued holding his arms. (Viasna Human Rights Center, June 12)

STUDENTS CHARGED WITH HOOLIGANISM FOR DISTRIBUTING NEWSPAPER

Sergei Pavlenkovich, Dmitry Gavrusik, Andrei Vitushka, and Kristina Sigun, all students of the Belarusian State University and members of the Association of Belarusian Students, were detained on June 7 on the campus of the Gomel State University while distributing Student, an independent newspaper registered with the State Press Committee. The four were charged with "petty hooliganism" under Art. 156 of the Belarusian Administrative Offences Code and are to stand trial soon. (Viasna Human Rights Center, June 11)

FIVE ZUBR ACTIVISTS DETAINED IN BREST

On June 12, Kiril Danko, Andrei Zolotar, Vasily Khatynuk, Andrei Khomich, and Polina Panasuk, all members of the youth movement Zubr, were detained for several hours in Brest for distributing Nasha Svaboda, an independent newspaper. The policemen brought the activists to the Moskovsky District Internal Affairs Directorate, confiscated all copies of the newspaper and filed a report. When the detainees reminded police of their constitutional right to receive, retain, and disseminate information, the law-enforcer rudely suggested them to forget about it. Captain Yuras said "they should all be shot." For more information see http://www.zubr-belarus.com/index.php?show=news097

LOCAL ACTIVIST RECEIVES HEAVY FINE FOR DISPLAYING NATIONAL FLAG

On June 14, Viktor Turovets, activist of the Smorgon, Grodno Region, branch of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP-BPF), was fined 150 minimal wages (about $640), for marching through the town with a national white-red-white flag and chanting "This is our dear Belarusian flag!" (Radio Racyja, June 15)

OPPOSITION MEMBERS DETAINED IN DZERZHINSK

On June 15, several members of the United Civil Party (UCP), including Anatoly Lebedko, the party's chair, were detained by the police in Dzerzhinsk, Minsk Region, for staging an unauthorized picket as part of the "We Want to Know the Truth" campaign, which calls on the authorities to release information about vanished opposition politicians. The local KGB chief personally handled the detention, which involved 8 KGB cars. The UCP activsts were taken to a local police precinct, where a police chief told them that he supported their campaign and asked for some of their brochures. The opposition members were released without charge. (Radio Racyja/ILHR, June 15)

-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS-

EU URGES REGIME TO HOLD FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

In anticipation of the presidential elections, the European Union's leadership reiterated its support for democratic developments in Belarus and once again underlined the importance of a free and fair vote. It urged the Belarusian government to honor its commitments under the OSCE Copenhagen Document, to refrain from interfering in the activities of the political opposition and NGOs, and to respect freedom of assembly. The EU reminded the Lukashenko government that the right of Belarusian citizens to engage in domestic election observation is guaranteed by law and that the authorities should not ban the training of election observers. The EU reiterated its concerns about Decree No. 8 "On Certain Measures of Regulation of the Procedure of Receipt and Use of the Foreign Charitable Aid," which imposes restrictions on foreign assistance to NGOs for democracy building and human rights, including election monitoring. The EU expressed full support for the work of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group and called on the Belarusian authorities to uphold a dialogue with the AMG and to cooperate constructively with Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE AMG in Belarus. The EU leadership once again expressed its readiness to engage in a dialogue with the Belarusian government in order to promote democratic presidential elections and a willingness to take a first step in normalizing its relations with Belarus if the elections will meet international standards. On June 14, Pavel Latushko, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, called the EU' statement "constructive and aimed at improving relations with Belarus." (Greek Embassy in Minsk, Interfax, June 12 - 14)

ELECTION OFFICIALS BEGIN REGISTRATION OF INITIATIVE GROUPS

On June 13-15, the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda began accepting applications from groups who intend to nominate candidates for the country's September 9 presidential race. According to current legislation, candidates for presidency can be nominated by initiative groups of at least 100 people, who until July 21 must gather at least 100,000 signatures to put their candidate on the ballot. The Commission has already registered initiative groups of Alexander Lukashenko; Viktor Tereshchenko, 13th Supreme Soviet deputy and director of the Minsk-based private International Institute of Management; Sergei Gaidukevich, chair of the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus (LDPB); Pavel Kozlovsky, former Defense Minister; Sergey Kalyakin, leader of the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB), and Nikolai Mekeko, a human rights activist. A total of 6,083 people will collect signatures for the nomination of Tereshchenko and 2,136 people for the nomination of Gaidukevich. Sergei Kalyakin has formed a 2,078-strong group, headed by Valery Ukhnalyov. Kozlovsky's group consists of 1,609 people and is led by Evgeny Bocharov, former officer of the Belarusian Border Guards.

Semyon Domash, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet, chair of the Grodno Initiative and the Coordination Council of Belarusian Regions; Leonid Sinitsyn, former head of the Lukashenko administration; Vladimir Goncharik, chair of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB); Valery Levonevsky, a member of the Council of the Free Trade Union of Entrepreneurs, and Mikhail Chigir, ex-Prime Minister, are expecting the Commission's decision concerning registration of their initiative groups. Alexander Milenkevich leads the group of 3,756 supporters for Semyon Domash. Sinitsyn's group includes 1,976 members and is headed by Vladimir Stepanov, who recently resigned as deputy chair of the Brest Regional Executive Committee. Goncharik's group is 4,500-strong and is led by Valentina Polevikova, secretary of the FTUB's Executive Council. Levonevsky and Chigir decided to unite their efforts to collect voters' signatures.

Mikhail Marinich, Belarusian Ambassador to Latvia, and Aleksey Lyashko, director of Lipen, a Gomel-based private company, unexpectedly announced their decision to enter the presidential race. On June 14, they applied to the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda for registration of their initiative groups. Marinich's group is to be headed by Ivan Pashkevich, deputy of the House of Representatives, lower chamber of the Lukashenko parliament. Lyashko's group includes 392 members.

On June 14, Lukashenko personally visited the Commission to submit the names of the 3,830-member initiative group supporting his candidacy. The group is headed by Nikolai Cherginets, a former police general and chair of the standing committee on international affairs and national security of the Belarusian National Assembly, reported Belapan. Narodnaya Volya, an independent newspaper, reported that in a violation of the electoral law, its journalist Anna Sous was barred from covering Lukashenko's visit to the Commission. The Belarusian strongman suggested to Lydia Yermoshina, chair of the Commission, that she should register the initiative groups of all candidates. "Let them all try, or else they will accuse me -- not you -- of rejecting their applications," he said. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta -Belapan - Narodnaya Volya, June 13-15)

EXILED OPPOSITION LEADER ALLOWED TO RUN FOR PRESIDENCY

On June 13, Lydia Yermoshina told Belapan that Zyanon Paznyak, exiled leader of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front (CCP-BPF), sent to the Commission the list of 1,429 members of his initiative group, but according to her, the registration of Paznyak's group is a "very complicated and problematic matter." Yermoshina said that since Paznyak left Belarus and received political asylum in the United States in 1996, in order to decide whether to register his group, the Commission has addressed the Constitutional Court with a request to analyze Art. 80 of the Belarusian Constitution, which stipulates that the presidential candidate should live in the country within ten years prior to the election. In its June 14's letter to the Commission, Paznyak wrote that fearing for his safety he was forced to leave the country in 1996 and referred to Art. 30 of the Constitution, which says that the citizens of the Republic of Belarus are free to travel within the country, to live and work where they wish, and to leave the country and return. On June 15, following the Constitutional Court's favorable decision, Paznyak's group, headed by Yuri Belenki, CCP-BPF's acting chair, and Sergei Popkov, CCP- BPF's deputy chair, received its registration certificate. (Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta - Belapan, June 12-15)

CENTRAL COMMISSION DRAWS UP ELECTION GUIDELINES

On June 12, Nikolai Lozovik, secretary of the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda, informed journalists that formation of the election commissions at all levels should be finished by July 25. The Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda will have then to register candidates between August 5 - 14. After that, the candidates will be given less then one month to conduct their election campaign.

On June 13, the Commission issued regulations that members of both chambers of the National Assembly (Belarusian parliament), representatives of Soviets (local legislative councils), candidates and members of their initiative groups, domestic and international observers are allowed to attend meetings of the election commissions at all levels after presenting their IDs, reported Belapan. Political parties, NGOs and workers' collectives may send their representatives to meetings of the commissions only after receiving a special pass. A group of voters are only permitted to observe the work of the election commission or polling station in the area of their residence. Journalists are allowed to attend meetings of the election commissions after presenting press ID. (Belapan -Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta, June 13)

OPPOSITION PARTIES DEMAND SEATS IN ELECTION COMMISSIONS

On June 13, the Consultative Council of Opposition Political Parties (the Rada) issued a statement protesting against flagrant violations of the electoral law at early stages of the presidential campaign. The Rada accused local authorities of interfering in the formation of the election commissions and urged the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda to influence the situation and include representatives of different political parties in the election commissions at all levels to ensure a free and democratic vote. The Council expressed its concern over the fact that although formation of the election commissions officially started on June 8, the application forms for membership in the commissions were not available until June 13. The League notes that Section 1, art. 5 of the Belarusian Constitution states that "political parties and republic associations acting within the framework of the constitution and laws of the Republic of Belarus shall contribute toward ascertaining and expressing the political will of the citizens and participate in elections." Historically, the Belarusian parties were never permitted to observe the elections officially by participating in the electoral commissions - a right which has been wrested from other despotic governments in the region by OSCE and which awaits implementation in Belarus. Now, with presidential elections looming on the horizon, the opposition insists on the fulfillment of their legal rights. (Belapan/ILHR, June 13)

OPPOSITION CANDIDATES URGE AUTHORITIES TO HOLD FAIR ELECTIONS

On June 12, Mikhail Chigir, ex-Prime Minister; Pavel Kozlovsky, former Defense Minister; Vladimir Goncharik, chair of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB); Semyon Domash, a deputy of the 13th Supreme Soviet [the disbanded parliament], chair of the Grodno Initiative and the Coordination Council of Belarusian Regions; and Sergey Kalyakin, leader of the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB), sent an open letter to the heads of the Regional, District and City Executive Committees urging them to act in a strict compliance with the law during the process of registration of the candidates, the composition of electoral commissions and counting of votes, reported Narodnaya Volya, an independent newspaper. The potential candidates stressed that after seven years of Lukashenko's rule, everyone who honestly carries out his professional and civic duties is tired of the incompetent, uncivilized and autocratic Belarusian leader who illegally assumed sweeping powers and is not accountable to anyone. The five candidates assured that they do not have "any hidden agenda" and promised in the event of victory to create stable employment and unconditional respect for the professionalism and experience of every honest administrator, civil servant, and worker. (Belapan, June 12)

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ACCUSES REGIME OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Gen. Pavel Kozlovsky, former Defense Minister and a candidate for the Belarusian presidency in the year 2001 election, told journalists in Minsk that he had every reason to believe that the regime gave orders to threaten or even kill him, reported Interfax. On June 9, when the candidate was leaving Minsk to attend a meeting with voters in Gomel, a wheel of his minivan suddenly fell off. A car service technician later confirmed said that someone has removed a bolt that connected a wheel to the axle. Experts say that no one was injured only because the car was moving at a low speed. Political terror and lawlessness continue to thrive in Belarus, commented Kozlovsky. He is convinced that this incident is a part of a campaign launched against the political opposition by the criminal regime of Lukashenko, and is aimed at the moral suppression and the physical destruction of its opponents. (Interfax, June 12)

BPF ADRADZHENNE SUPPORTS DOMASH

The BPF Adradzhenne called on the united democratic opposition to hold the Congress of Democratic Forces before August 5, when the Central Commission for Elections will start registration of potential candidates, in order to nominate a single candidate from the opposition for the presidency. The opposition's chances to win the elections are very high, said Vintsuk Vyachorka, chair of the BPF Adradzhenne, adding that at the Congress his party will vote for Semyon Domash. (Belapan, June 11)

NEW REPORT SETS OUT OBSTACLES TO FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

On June 13, ARTICLE 19, a global campaign for free expression, named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issued a report called "The Mechanics of Repression: Obstacles to Free and Fair Elections," which documents the deterioration in respect for freedom of expression in Belarus. The report examines the prospects for a level playing field in the forthcoming presidential elections, using the conduct of October 2000's parliamentary elections as a basis for reference. The full text of the report can be found at: www.article19.org/docimages/1060.htm

CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION ASKS FOR DONATIONS

The Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda appealed to impoverished Belarusian population and domestic enterprises, public and private organizations to make a voluntary donations to the election fund, reported Belapan. Under a Lukashenko decree, the contributions are to be distributed evenly among all candidates. Last year, not a single ruble was been paid to a special account to collect non-budget funds for the parliamentary elections. (Belapan, June 13)

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS

On June 12, the Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union, popularly referred to as Lukamol, a government-subsidized pro-Lukashenko youth organization, issued a statement calling on young compatriots to vote for their "father" Lukashenko. The Union labeled other potential candidate for the presidency as a "devil's dozen" and accused the democratic opposition of trying to mislead Belarusian youth. According to Yury Soloviev, the Union's chair, the organization plans to send at least three representatives to each polling station, and to ask Amb. Hans-Georg Wieck, head of the OSCE AMG in Belarus, for money to train the Union's members to monitor the elections. (Belapan, June 12-13)

LUKASHENKO CALLS ON COMPATRIOTS TO BE VIGILANT

Alexander Lukashenko assured journalists that this fall's presidential elections will be held in compliance with the law, reported BelTA. The Belarusian leader said that he is not intending to hold a traditional election campaign, but instead will continue to perform his duties as Belarusian president. Despite complaints about his hectic schedule, Lukashenko appears daily on Belarusian TV to deliver eloquent addresses to his compatriots. On June 15, he called on his countrymen to be vigilant in resisting any provocation aimed at discrediting him during the upcoming election campaign, reported Interfax. Citing rumors of electoral and financial fraud, Lukashenko urged Belarusians "not to heed the set-ups and provocations" and once again charged his opponents with employing "unacceptable methods of dirty propaganda." While promising that Russian television channels (which have been vocal critics of his strong-arm tactics), could continue to broadcast to Belarus unhindered, Lukashenko threatened possible reprisals if the criticism turned too sharp for his taste. "We will show [the Russian television companies] them their place after the elections, but I want you all to see first what kind of dirt they fling about," Lukashenko warned. (BelTA/Belapan/Interfax, June 14-15)

VETERANS PLEDGE THEIR LOYALTY TO LUKASHENKO

On June 12, the Vitebsk Regional Council of Veterans of War and Labor, published a statement on the front page of Vitebsk Rabochy, local state-controlled daily, pledging their loyalty to Alexander Lukashenko and praising the Belarusian leader for keeping the country stable and controllable. The veterans particularly thanked Lukashenko for "pulling us away from the yawning abyss prepared by the so-called democratic reformers." "Only with you as the head of the state, we can keep on hoping for the successful implementation of plans and programs aimed at building strong and prosperous Belarus," they wrote. The veterans urged voters to make the right choice at the forthcoming elections. The Vitebsk branch of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has demanded from the Central Commission for Elections and National Referenda to take action against the newspaper for violating electoral regulations. "The use of the state media in the electoral campaign prior to the candidate registration deadline violates the principle of equal media access," Leonid Chigrai, chair of the BHC's Vitebsk branch, commented in an interview to Belapan, adding that the paper is published on taxpayers' money, many of whom support those "democratic reformers." (Belapan, June 12)

SHOW US YOUR WALLET!

On June 15, Lukashenko signed a decree which requires each presidential candidate to publish within ten days his income tax return and property declaration in one of the state newspapers. (Sovietskaya Belorussiya, June 15)

ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES?

Alexander Lukashenko has fired Viktor Chikin, chief of the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company (BTR), citing the media boss's poor health. Loyal servant of the regime and vicious critic of the West, Chikin would be relieved of his duties after he returned from vacations, state officials said on June 13, reported BelTA. Chikin, who also is the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the pro-Lukashenko Communist Party of Belarus, was BTR's chief for less than a year, launching numerous aggressive and unfounded attacks on foreign diplomats and international organizations working in Belarus, which even Lukashenko called "stupid, senseless and shameless." (BelTA, June 14)

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For daily updates, visit our partners website, Charter 97, www.charter97.org with news in Belarusian, Russian, and English. Visit www.belarusupdate.org for frequently updated news and views on Belarus.

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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 60th year, is New York-based human rights NGO in consultative status with the United Nations.

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.

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