The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 8 Nov 2007

08.11.2007 Revenge to Entrepreneur

On 6 November Maladzechna district court fined a local entrepreneur Mikalai Apiationak 3,1 million rubles.

08.11.2007 No Bryl, Sapeha and Vainilovich Streets for Minsk

The September ruling of the deputies of Minsk city soviet of deputies to rename Bersan Street in Minsk into Vainilovich Street and name some new streets after a famous political figure of the Great Principality of Lithuania Leu Sapeha and a well-known Belarusian writer of the Soviet times Yanka Bryl did not pass the legal expertise of the Ministry of Justice.

08.11.2007 Trial of Zmitser Dashkevich Postponed to 9 November

On 6 November the trial of the leader of the Young Front Zmitser Dashkevich started in Shklou prison. At present Dashkevich is serving 18-month term for ‘activities on behalf of unregistered organization’ (article 193.1 of the Criminal Code). The criminal case that is being considered now has been brought against Dashkevich in August 2007 for refusal to testify against another member of the Young Front, Ivan Shyla, who was also charged with violation of article 193.1.

08.11.2007 Belarusian Helsinki Committee Demands Investigation of Fight at Social March

On 4 November when the Social March demonstration crossed Yakub Kolas and Surhanau Streets in Minsk, a group of young people in black (about 50 persons) separated from the column and put up a fight in the traffic area. Many of them were chanting fascist slogans.

08.11.2007 War on ‘BelSat’ Continues

The authorities are going to do the following: the city dwellers are proposed to replace dishes with cable and terrestrial TV. It is surprising, but there hasn’t yet been any concrete order to remove the dishes. But the authorities are planning how to do it: during repair works.

08.11.2007 Salihorsk: Ivan Shyla Faces New Criminal Case?

The youth activist Ivan Shyla was detained on 7 November, during a picket in the main square of Salihorsk. Together with him the police detained several other action participants. While the district officials were lying flowers to the monument of Lenin seven persons unrolled the transparency ‘Put Communism to Tribunal’. The action lasted for 15 seconds only.

08.11.2007 Chair of Hrodna City Office of United Civil Party Fired

43-year-old Zmitser Slutski, chair of Hrodna city office of the United Civil Party, has been fired. The reason was that he missed some days of work because of the five-day arrest.

08.11.2007 Poland: Who Stabbed Journalist Klaskouskaya?

The Belarusian journalist, political refugee from Belarus Volha Klaskouskaya has been assaulted in Poland. The ucpb.org was informed about this by a student of the Supreme Theatric School in Krakow Zmitser Chartkou.

08.11.2007 Rechytsa: KGB Pays Interest to Kindergarten Nurses

This week the psychologist Tatsiana Lasitsa has been summonsed to Rechytsa KGB office for an informal talk. According to Tatsiana, in the beginning of the week she was invited for a meeting by an unknown man who introduced himself as a KGB worker. He was interested in the circumstances of her participation in the weekly human rights school in Vilnius, Lithuania. Tatsiana Lasitsa told him that she went there in her leisure time and that he would come to a meeting only with her lawyer. Then the ‘unknown’ promised to visit her at work, but still has not come there.

08.11.2007 Hrodna: Prosecutor’s Office Pressurizes Journalist Ivan Roman again

On 8 November the journalist Ivan Roman was summonsed to the prosecutor’s office of Hrodna. The prosecutor presented to him a print-out from Roman’s telephone talks with the Bialystok office of the Polish Radio Racyja and asked whether the journalist was working for the radio without an accreditation. The journalist refused to answer. In his interview with RFE/RL he stated that he was not a correspondent of Radio Racyja. However, as a Belarusian citizen he sometimes comments different events for Racyja and other media.