28.12.2009 Three Polish priests to be deported from Belarus

Three Polish Catholic priests will have to leave Belarus by the end of the year, Polskie Radio reports, quoting the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper. The official reason for the deportation is their use of the Polish language during masses.

28.12.2009 Expelled student appeals decision

The Young Front’s press-secretary Tatsiana Shaputska, expelled from Belarusian State University, following her participation in the Eastern Partnership’s Civil Society Forum, lodged a complaint with the Minister of Information.

28.12.2009 Prosecution for charitable actions in Brest suspended

Brest Leninski Court suspended civil prosecution of two local activists Sviatlana Novikava and Aliaksandr Kazliankou, charged with violating rally procedures while arranging a charitable action of doling food to low-income persons in the city center. The activists say they are going to continue arranging similar charitable acts in Brest.

28.12.2009 Russian ecologist Ozherovsky conviction is illegal, says Ministry of Information

The Belarusian Ministry of Information orders to suspend civil prosecution of Russian ecologist Andrei Ozherovsky, urging the investigation to return the seized printed materials, criticizing the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus, the BelaPAN news agency reports.

28.12.2009 Persecution of “Borisovskiye novosti” goes on

While the editorial office is fighting for return of the licence for retail trade, regional authorities are creating bureaucratic hurdles for enterprises that want to sell the independent newspaper.

As the press-service of the Belarusian Association of Journalists was told by the editor-in-chief of “Borisovskiye novosti” Anatol Bukas, he concluded a realization agreement with a large new supermarket “Almi”.