HUMAN RIGHTS & INDEPENDENT MEDIA
2007 Local Election Coverage in Belarus ian Media
Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), an independent, non-partisan Belarus ian NGO dedicated to freedom of expression and media, is launching its 2007 Local Election Media-Monitoring Project to systematically monitor the media coverage of the 14th January local elections.
BAJ seeks to evaluate the mass media’s performance in providing objective and balanced coverage of the candidates and their platforms so the citizens of Belarus can make well-informed choices at the ballot box. The project’s findings will be determined through a well-defined and rigorous methodology and are not intended to support any one candidate or political party, but the integrity of the media environment as a whole during the campaign season.
Media monitoring will be carried out from 4th December 2006 through 20th January 2007 using qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. Quantitative analysis will measure the total amount of time and space devoted to elections-related coverage on 29 media outlets (state-funded television, state-funded radio, local TV stations, national and regional newspapers).
This report reflects the first monitoring period (4-16 December 2006), which coincided with the candidates` registration.
Summary of Findings
Neither the national State-owned media not the non-State media have so far offered any wide coverage of the upcoming local elections. Conversely, so far the elections have been largely ignored and presented as a routine event, which does not deserve any extra media attention.
Despite the importance of their role in a local election, the monitored local State-owned media and majority of the local private broadcasters adopted a similar approach and provided very limited coverage of the election process.
The coverage of the Central Election Commission (CEC) was often the only elections-related coverage in most of the monitored media sources. The work of the CEC and territorial election commissions was portrayed in an exclusively positive or neutral manner by the State-owned broadcasters.
Of the monitored political subjects, the incumbent President and local authorities dominated the coverage in the media. The State-owned media portrayed the ruling powers in an exclusively positive or neutral manner, whereas their coverage by the non-State media was largely neutral or negative.
While the State-owned media invariably ignored opposition politicians, their coverage by the non-State media was also limited.
The monitored media in general has not offered a forum for the exchange of opinions, public debate, confrontation, investigation and commentary that would offer the public informed, analyzed and assessed views of persons and groups seeking elected office in the upcoming local elections.
Excerpt from:
Source: BAJ; December 18, 2006; http://www.baj.ru
Minsk Court Upholds Belarusian Activist’s Prison Sentence
The Minsk City Court on December 15 upheld an 18-month prison sentence against opposition youth leader Zmitser Dashkevich, Belapan reported the same day. The court found Dashkevich guilty of running an unregistered organization called Young Front. The sentence thus came into force and Dashkevich is to serve his prison term in a minimum-security correctional institution. A dozen Dashkevich supporters attempted to protest near the court's building but were reportedly dispersed by police.
Source: RFE/RL; December 18, 200 ;
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/12/3-CEE/cee-181206.asp
Warning for Distributing Independent Press
On December 13, UDP deputy contender Aleksandr Protska received a warning for distributing independent newspapers, including Narodnaya Volya and Tovarisch, while he was collecting signatures on the streets of the city of Homel .
The election commission of District #15, headed by Mikhalai Maly, determined his actions were illegal.
Vasil Paliakou, head of the regional UDP branch, a candidate form District #13, also receive a warning. Mr. Paliakou was distributing leaflets “Will there be an election?” where the previous three election campaigns were analyzed, BAJ Monitoring Service reports.
“The actions of Protska and Paliakou have nothing to do with the election. One of them was distributing registered newspapers and the other one was giving out leaflets containing information about the previous elections campaigns. I am surprised that election commission issued warnings for these actions”, said Mikhail Pastuhou, Head of the Media Legal Defense Center at the Belarus ian Association of Journalists .
“The commission considered the fact of distribution of registered Belarus ian editions to be illegal. This fact characterizes the political atmosphere of this election campaign,” said Pastuhou.
Rev. by ed.
Source: BAJ: December 14, 2005; http://www.baj.ru/en/news/?id=391&page=1
DOMESTIC
Local Election Street Protests to Be Blocked
Belarus' security chief vowed Wednesday to block any potential street protests or demonstrations related to next month's elections for municipal councils.
Stepan Sukharenko, director of the ex-Soviet republic's KGB, also said he supported legislation introduced by President Alexander Lukashenko that would broaden the definition of extremism, potentially to include opposition pronouncements.
"Opponents of the current authorities . . . conduct acts of civil disobedience with the aim of changing the existing state structure," he said. "Social order and stability will be guaranteed."
Sukharenko also asserted that living standards in Belarus were rising, which he said added to the country's stability.
Rev. by ed.
Excerpt from:
Source: Yuras Karmanau, News 1130; December 20, 2006 ; http://www.news1130.com/news/international/article.jsp?content=w122075A
Belarus Opens Election Campaign for Local Councils
Campaigning began in Belarus on December 15 for the January 14 elections to local councils (soviets), Belapan reported on December 18, citing Mikalay Lazavik, secretary of the Central Election Commission (TsVK). The elections are held on three levels: for village, district and city, and regional councils.
The TsVK has registered 23,791 candidates to compete for 22,658 seats. Lazavik said that candidates should print their campaigning materials only in Belarus and only with state money -- each candidate will receive 31,000 rubles ($14.5), 124,000 rubles, and 248,000 rubles to campaign on the village, district, and regional level, respectively. "If candidates use their personal money or funds from foreign sponsors in their campaigns," they will be disqualified, Lazavik warned.
Amendments to the Electoral Code also oblige candidates to obtain local government permission for public meetings with voters. The election campaign will overlap with early voting, which begins a few days before the elections.
Source: RFE/RL; December 19, 2006;
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/12/3-CEE/cee-191206.asp
Belarus: Mixed State Response to Catholic and Protestant Protests
Catholics in Belarus have halted a hunger-strike, after receiving endorsement for church construction from the Grodno city administration, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Parish priest Fr Aleksandr Shemet stressed to Forum 18 that the Church has not received permission to build, but permission to "gather documents" and "ask for final permission from the President."
Parishioners are praying for all Belarus ian churches without a building - including Minsk 's New Life charismatic Church - and for the 12 Polish Catholic priests and nuns refused permission to work in Belarus after 31 December 2006 . "We want not only the Catholic Church, but all Christians to be able to practice their religion freely," Fr Shemet remarks. "So we will pray that believers are not afraid to demand their rights." The 12 priests and nuns have been denied permission to continue working in Belarus , despite appeals from 12,000 people including Catholic bishops. New Life Church is supporting the Catholics of Grodno and praying for a forthcoming court session, on whether moves to terminate New Life's land rights and force the sale of its building are lawful.
Excerpt from:
Source: Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18; December 20, 2006; http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=893
REGIONAL
Russia Proposes Gas Prices for Belarus of around US$140 — instead US$200: Ambassador
Russia has eased off on the threat of a fourfold natural gas price hike for Belarus , proposing a lesser, but still considerable increase for the ex-Soviet republic, Russia 's ambassador said Wednesday.
A spokesman for Russia 's state-controlled gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom, however, denied any decrease in prices and said talks were continuing.
Alexander Surikov told a news conference in Minsk that, based on a Dutch bank analysis, Russia had also increased its valuation of Belarus ' state-controlled gas transport network — which Russia is seeking a major stake in.
The ongoing struggle between Minsk and Moscow is the latest skirmish involving Russia and its efforts to hike prices for energy supplies to former Soviet republics.
Russia had proposed raising Belarus ' gas prices fourfold, to US$200 (€155) per 1,000 cubic meters — a price Belarus ' president warned would be catastrophic for the country's Soviet-style, centrally-planned economy.
Surikov said Russia was dropping its proposed price.
"The price is decreasing; it will be closer to US$140, US$130, maybe even a bit less," he said.
In exchange for easing the higher prices, Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom had proposed taking a major stake in Belarus ian gas transport network, Beltransgaz — whose pipeline network handles much of Russia's European-bound gas exports.
But the two countries had disagreed sharply on a valuation for Beltransgaz.
Surikov said an analysis conducted by ABN Amro Holdings NV valued Beltransgaz at US$3-4 billion (€2-3 billion) — more than Moscow 's earlier valuation of US$1 billion but significantly less than Minsk 's proposal of US$10-15 billion.
Belarus ian First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko confirmed that the proposed price had decreased, but refused to say by how much.
Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov told The Associated Press that the figures "don't correspond to negotiation process."
"The sides are in the process of discussing the evaluation, the details of which Gazprom is not divulging," he said.
Belarus was also rattled last week when the Russian Cabinet decided to raise customs duties on oil exports to Belarus . The increase, which Russian exporters will pass along to Belarus , would deprive Minsk of profits it has reaped by exporting oil products made of cheap Russian oil.
Surikov said Russia had offered a new proposal that would split profits from the re-export of refined oil products — 15 percent for Belarus , 85 percent for Russia .
Belarusian Finance Minister Nikolai Korbut said Minsk 's counterproposal was for a 50-50 split of profits.
Russia has recently hiked energy prices for several other ex-Soviet republics, including Georgia , Ukraine and Azerbaijan .
Moscow says the increases are intended to bring prices to competitive, world levels, but outside observers say Russia is trying to use its vast energy resources to influence the countries' internal policies — or even punish them for crossing Moscow.
Source: The International Herald Tribune; December 20, 2006 ; http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/20/business/EU_FIN_ Belarus _Russia_Gas.php
Minsk Made Speechless
But it might lose its sovereignty as well
Belarus is worried about the failure of Russia- Belarus presidential talks. Alexander Lukashenko failed to reach agreement on lowering natural gas price, and on keeping oil refining profits. Belarus ian president refrained from his traditional strong comments towards Russia , and the opposition announced that Russia is preparing the Anschluss of Belarus . Minsk has 13 days left to agree to Moscow ’s demands.
The key issues of Putin-Lukashenko talks in Moscow were the three disagreements: the fact that Russia imposed duties on oil exported to Belarus to be refined, the price on natural gas supplied to Belarus by Gazprom beginning from January 1, 2007 , and the creation of Russia- Belarus joint venture for natural gas distribution on the base of Beltransgaz. However, only the budget for 2007 of the Union State was ratified (expenditure part of $144 million), while Putin-Lukashenko talks ended in the latter’s leaving Moscow , winding up most of his visit’s program.
The outcome of the talks has not been officially announced yet. Meanwhile, the Russian president’s staff say off-the-record that agreement wasn’t reached on any of the three issues. The fact that Lukashenko did not make sharp comments on the talks’ outcome, breaking his habit of doing so on Belarus ian state TV right after each meeting, proves that Minsk is worried about the talks’ failure this time. Meanwhile, Belarus ian state mass media did not cover the issues of disagreement at all on Saturday and Sunday. They just accused Russian authorities of breaking the previously reached agreements on social issues, and praised the ratifying of the Union State ’s budget.
Russia ’s decision about imposing export duties will make Belarus lose up to $1.7-2 billion of revenues if oil products supplies become reduced. Gazprom’s raising the price from $49 to $200 for 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas will cause a drastic growth of tariffs in Belarus ian energy sector, housing maintenance and utilities, and public services, or even the bankruptcy of a greater part of companies. Finally, regardless of the price which Gazprom will pay for taking over Beltransgaz, losing control over it will mean for Minsk that Lukashenko administration’s influence on local economy is falling.
Russian state officials say off-the-record that the resolution on calling off privileges for importing oil to Belarus will not be reconsidered. Thus, oil refinery in Belarus will begin losing profits already in January 2007. Gazprom, in its turn, does not want to lower gas supply price below $200 for 1,000 cubic meters. If the agreement on natural gas is not signed, the situation of 2003 might repeat in January. Back then, Gazprom lowered pressure in the pipes transporting gas to the E.U. through Belarus .
It is unknown how Lukashenko will be able to avoid the economic fall in winter. Russia has not yet set any official demands to Belarus ian president: Moscow plans to impose export duties and new price on gas unconditionally. Leader of Belarus ian United Democratic Forces Alexander Milinkevich believes however that Russia wants Belarus to ratify the Constitutional Act and to establish Russian ruble as the only currency in Belarus . He called those demands “the steps towards Anschluss”, adding: “ Belarus ian sovereignty is traded for keeping Lukashenko’s regime.”
Source: Vadim Dovnar, Dmitry Butrin, Kommersant; December 18, 2006 ; http://www.kommersant.com/p731052/r_527/failure_Russia- Belarus _talks/
A Few Believe Kremlin To Switch to Market Relations with Lukashenko
Almost no one believes in Moscow ’s ability and political will to switch relations with Minsk to a market path because for such a long time, the Kremlin has supported Lukashenko’s regime through low gas prices and no-fee oil supplies. The Russian decision to introduce export duties for the oil supply to Belarus in 2007 convinced only a few people. Most viewed the document as a scary story for kids, with a message something like, “Sasha [Lukashenka], if you don’t pay, Uncle Vova [Putin] will cut off your gas. Ha-ha…”
All the mass media, especially Russian ones, write only about one thing – Lukashenko’s victory. Not in the hockey game against the Gazprom team, but at negotiations with Putin. Most of the media have no doubts that Lukashenko will persuade Putin to make a decision favorable to Lukashenko decision. The question about gas supplies to Belarus has been discussed for such a long time that almost no one pays attention to the fact that the decision to levy duties was published not in Kommersant, but in a resolution from the Russian government. Does the document signed by Fradkov look like a useless scrap of paper? Why is everybody so sure that Lukashenko’s visit to Moscow and his meeting with Putin is enough to make the Russian government cancel its resolution?
The document is accepted and published. It has forced Lukashenko keep silent for the whole week and think over his next steps. However, there are so many optimists in and around the Belarus ian government. These so called “sources in the Belarus ian government” or “sources close to the Belarus ian government” continue to give information that Belarus will submit a proposal to distribute the export duty on oil products in 70/30 proportions during next week’s meeting of the interstate commission on tariff and non-tariff regulation. Fradkov signed his regulation on December 8, and the regulation will come in force on January 1, 2007 . And according to this document, nobody needs to distribute anything because everything is already distributed.
However, there is still no final decision or signed resolutions on gas. On December 19, Gazprom will hold the next Board of Directors meeting. The agenda will include the item “About Gazprom rate policy towards countries of the former Soviet Union .”
Trans. by ed.
Source: AFN; December 15, 2006; http://www.afn.by/news/default.asp?pg=2&newsid=81471#data
Karaganov: United State of Russia and Belarus is Fiction
The building of the Russian- Belarus ian United State is a fiction. Sergei Karaganov, Deputy Director, Institute of Europe, Academy of Sciences , head of the foreign and defense policy council expressed his opinion, Rosbalt cited.
“There is no building of any United State . It is just a fiction,” Karaganov said.
He said that “Russian politics have exhausted all the resources to modernize Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus .”
“The earlier we start to conduct a firm economical policy toward Belarus , the better,” the political scientist believes. “Though we should have done it five years ago,” Sergei Karaganov concluded.
Trans. by ed.
Source: AFN; December 15, 2006; http://www.afn.by/news/default.asp?pg=2&newsid=81467#data
INTERNATIONAL
Sudan, Belarus Sign Package of Agreements
Sudan and isolated Belarus ian government signed today a package of agreements on investment, information and sport cooperation, however Minsk said interested in furthering cooperation with Khartoum .
The visiting Sudanese Foreign Minister and his Belarus ian counterpart inked Monday an intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and safeguarding of investments. Meeting in Minsk , Lam Akol and Sergei Martynov also concluded an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of information and a protocol on sport cooperation.
“One of the agreements we signed today deals with protecting investments. Belarus is interested in major projects in Sudan , including energy, road construction and overall restoration of the country. We would like to contribute our technology and equipment;” said the Belarus ian official.
Belarus ian President Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of human rights violations, in a meeting with the Sudanese minister reiterated his intention to pay a visit to Sudan soon. The Sudanese president had invited him to visit Khartoum during his visit to Minsk at the end of July this year.
“We are interested in furthering cooperation with you. We will do our utmost to step up this cooperation;” he said.
Excerpt from:
Source: Sudan Tribune; December 19, 2006; http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article19362
U.S. Will Not Recognize Any Referendum on Uniting Belarus and Russia : Ambassador
A proposed referendum that would move Belarus and Russia closer to uniting would be undemocratic, given Belarus ' authoritarian government, the U.S. ambassador to this tightly controlled ex-Soviet republic said Tuesday.
Karen Stewart said that the United States would not recognize any such vote.
"Given today's situation in Belarus , no referendum can be held that would convince us that this was the free will of the Belarus ian people," she told reporters.
Despite years of pronouncements and on-again, off-again talks, the proposed Russia- Belarus Union remains largely on paper. Belarus ' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has rejected a Kremlin-proposed merger plan and negotiations on creating a single currency have stalled.
Earlier Tuesday, Pavel Borodin, the head of the proposed union, called for holding a referendum on uniting the two countries, saying 2007 would be "decisive for the building of the unified state."
Lukashenko has become a pariah in the West for cracking down on dissent and extending his rule through flawed votes, and Moscow has been Belarus ' main sponsor and ally. But the Kremlin has lately been keeping more of a distance from Minsk and tensions have built up in recent years.
Lukashenko's government has been rattled by Moscow 's recent proposals to hike oil and natural gas prices for Belarus , which has long benefited from substantial Kremlin subsidies. The move echoes similar increases sought by Moscow in other ex-Soviet republics, like Georgia , Ukraine and Azerbaijan .
Stewart repeated the position shared in Washington and other Western capitals that accused Russia of using its vast energy resources as a weapon.
"In our dialogue with Russia , we continue to push our point of view that a democratic Belarus would be a better neighbor and a better friend both for Russia and for us," she said.
Source: The International Herald Tribune; December 19, 2006; http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/19/europe/EU_GEN_ Belarus _US_Referendum.php
Belarus Dissidents Get Foreign Help
Activists opposed to the iron rule of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko have regrouped in neighboring Lithuania . But influencing opinion inside Belarus is an uphill struggle, the BBC's Alix Kroeger reports.
When the door to the library of the European Humanities University (EHU) swings open, it reveals a largely empty room. This is the library of a university in exile.
The EHU has been in Vilnius for two years. It moved from the Belarus ian capital Minsk after it was forced to close by the authorities there.
It left much of its library behind, but took its students with it. Like Anastasiya Matchenko, 20, a second-year student of international law.
Following the EHU to Vilnius was a difficult decision, she admits. But in the end, she says, she could not get the same education at a Belarus sian state university.
"Here you can receive a free education, where you are provoked to express your thoughts, your feelings, and where you can discuss, you can argue," she says. "And if you don't like something, your opinion will always be taken into consideration."
Soviet methods
Fifteen years ago, Lithuania and Belarus were part of the same country, the USSR . Now Lithuania is in the EU, while Belarus is reverting more and more to its Soviet-era ways.
Vilnius , just 110 miles (180 km) from the Belarus ian capital Minsk , has become something of a refuge for the Belarus ian opposition, but also for those who fall foul of the government for non-political reasons - like the EHU.
Its vice-rector, Vladimir Donaev, does not hold out any hope of an imminent return to Minsk , at least as long as President Alexander Lukashenko remains in power.
"I am afraid that yes, he is thinking of us as a threat to his regime," he says wryly. "Our project is academic. The authorities have a sort of interpretation of our project as a political project. And this politicization is not our choice."
If the university is critical of society, he says, that is its duty, part of the idea of academic freedom. He compares Belarus today to Poland under martial law after 1981.
Foreign help
The EHU is supported largely by international donors, including the European Commission, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Open Society Institute.
Earlier this year, the Commission announced it was giving another 4.5m euros (£3m) to fund scholarships for Belarus ian students, both at the EHU and at universities in Ukraine . It also funds independent radio broadcasts to Belarus .
In November, the Commission made public what it was prepared to offer Belarus in aid, access to markets and technical assistance. In return, it was urging Belarus to become more democratic and extend the rule of law.
The Belarus ian ambassador to Brussels , Vladimir Senko, says his government is still studying the document, but he is unimpressed with the Commission's approach.
"What we are waiting for is equal treatment," he says. "We are seeking relations based on principles of equality and non-interference. We would never accept a policy of punishing or pushing."
Border controls
The European Commission is at pains to stress that it is not funding the Belarus ian opposition, but rather giving money to projects that promote democracy and human rights.
The international wing of the American Republican Party has no such qualms.
In a basement office in Vilnius , Trygve Olson from the International Republican Institute briefed a group of Belarus ian opposition leaders and activists on the results of a Gallup poll.
Everything he said had to be laboriously translated from English to Belarus ian. But for the opposition, it was the only way they could get access to such information.
The group was late arriving. They were stopped at the border leaving Belarus and subjected to a full search.
Two of the main opposition leaders were not there: Alexander Milinkevich, because he had been arrested three times in previous weeks, and Alexander Kozulin, because he was on hunger strike in prison. He ended his hunger strike ten days later, after seven weeks without food.
Crackdown
In March, President Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected with 82% of the vote. The EU and US condemned the vote as "fundamentally flawed".
Thousands of protesters filled the main square in Minsk . It was nothing like the Orange Revolution in Ukraine , but by Belarus ian standards, it was unprecedented. More than 150 people were arrested when police broke up the demonstration.
Mr Milinkevich, the main opposition candidate, was jailed for 15 days. Mr Kozulin got five and a half years for "organizing disturbances".
One of their fellow opposition leaders, Anatoly Lebedko, says he is ashamed that his country is a dictatorship in the middle of Europe .
"Belarus is like an experimental laboratory, where 10 million people are being kept in an ideology of totalitarianism and populism," he says.
It is a problem that Belarus ians must solve for themselves, he says, but they need outside help. He appeals to Europe to keep Belarus on its agenda.
Outside, a group of young opposition activists were conducting a straw poll of their own. They had been given questions to ask: about attitudes to Belarus , to the Lithuanian economy, even the performance of Vilnius ' own mayor.
If they did this in Belarus , they said, they would be questioned by the authorities. And people would not be so willing to talk to them.
Local politics
Denis, 22, hopes to stand as an opposition candidate in local elections in Belarus in January - if he is allowed to by the government.
"Local elections offer a possibility - a legal possibility - to talk to people. And if just one or two opposition candidates get onto local councils, this will be a small victory. We have to take it step by step."
"Our capacity to challenge the authority of the Belarus ian government is pretty minimal," says Trygve Olson from the IRI. "But what is true is that ideas matter. And what we're trying to do is to say to people, not what you should do, but it's okay to have ideas. And if that's a threat to the Belarus ian government, they may be afraid of ideas."
Ambassador Senko insists that the January local elections will be free and fair. He says the fact that the opposition must rely on support from abroad shows it has little backing at home.
He also points out that Belarus is the second-largest transit country, after Ukraine , for Europe 's oil and gas. Last year, Russia turned off energy supplies to Ukraine , with a knock-on effect for Europe . Mr Senko regrets the fact that Belarus , unlike Russia , has no oil or gas of its own.
For Belarus , that may be a strategic disadvantage. But Belarus is now on the EU's eastern border. That means the West, and Europe in particular, now has a vested interest in making Belarus a more open, democratic neighbor.
Source: BBC News; December 19, 2006; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6194419.stm
Canada Imposes Sanctions on Belarus
Canada imposed unilateral trade sanctions on Belarus on Monday to pressure it to respect human rights and democracy, Reuters reports.
Any exports to Belarus will now require a Canadian export permit, and these will generally be denied except for humanitarian items like food, clothing and medicine.
“Canada remains very concerned that Belarus continues to ignore international appeals to restore democracy,” Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement.
“From a flawed election to the continued imprisonment of democratic supporters, Belarus persists in its flagrant abuse of human rights and the rule of law.”
Canada surprised the U.S. government in April by acting ahead of it in denying a refueling stop to Belarus ian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky en route to Cuba . Ottawa signaled in July that it was looking at clamping down on Canadian exports.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s landslide election victory on March 19 was branded fraudulent by international observers.
Rev. by ed.
Source: MosNews; December 19, 2006;
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/12/19/belarussanctions.shtml
Belarus Denies Visa To German Diplomat
Belarus has barred a German diplomat from entering the country.
Officials at the Belarus ian Foreign Ministry declined to explain why they had refused a visa to Holger Kraemer, who is currently employed at the German Foreign Ministry.
Kraemer worked at the German Embassy in Minsk from 2000 to 2004, during which time he frequently attended anti-government demonstrations.
Source: RFE/RL; December 19, 2006;
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/12/C5722DA5-8F06-4345-957A-13B6000276DA.html
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