суббота, 29 декабря 2012 г.

Decree No9 copied from Stalin’s decree of 1940

The discouraging fact was found out at the round table of the legal department of the radio and electronics industry’s trade union.

During the discussion the lawyers found the similarities between the Belarus president’s decree as of 7 December 2012 and the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR as of 26 June 1940.

Salidarnasc gives the excerpts from both documents for comparison.

The decree No9 as of 7 December 2012

“About additional measures for development of timber processing industry”

1. Enact that:

1.2. cancellation of a contract in the period of the implementation of investment projects on initiative of a worker is only possible with the agreement of the employer;

1.5. when cancelling a contract with a worker on worker’s initiative or in the circumstances not dependent on the parties’ will, according to the legislation the amounts of monthly payments are to be returned by the worker to the employer in a month from the contract’s cancellation;

In case of non-payment of the monthly amount…

1.6. after the expiration date, defined in the part one of the paragraph 1.5, the organization appeals to the court in order to exact the monthly payment in accordance with the Civic Code of the Republic of Belarus.

The court’s decision must be taken in three days after the application.

The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR as of 26 June 1940:

“About the transition to an 8-hour working day, seven day working week and the prohibition of the voluntary withdrawal of workers from enterprises and institutions”

…3. Forbid voluntary withdrawal of workers and employees of the state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions, and also voluntary transfers form one enterprise or institution to another.

Withdrawal from an enterprise or institution or transfer from one enterprise or institution to another can only be permitted by the director of the enterprise or the head of the institution.

…5. Enact that workers and employees, having voluntary left state, cooperative or public enterprises or institutions, will be held responsible in a court and sentenced to imprisonment from 2 to 4 months.

Enact that for absenteeism without valid reasons workers and employees of state, cooperative or public enterprises or institutions will be held responsible in a court and sentenced to corrective works at the place of employment for 6 months with withholding up to 25% of their salaries.

We would note that as compared to Stalin’s decree as of 1940 in the decree No9 there is the regulation missing about sending workers to compulsive works, although Aliaksandr Lukashenka considered this possibility before signing the decree.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 28 декабря 2012 г.

Head of Russian trade unions threatens Lukashenka with sanctions

Eighty nine trade union centres demand to cancel the “slave decree” in Belarus.

Trade unions across the world continue a campaign of solidarity with Belarusians. Mikhail Shmakov, the chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia and president of the Pan-European Regional Council of the International Trade Union Confederation, joined the campaign, Nasha Niva newspaper writes.

“The essence of the decree is to make people work under force and constraint. The mankind passed the stage of slavery and serfdom long ago. History showed that this kind of labour is ineffective,” Shmakov writes in a letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka. “I had to say with regret that conditions of the decree resemble the actions by the authorities of Myanmar, who were severely criticised by the International Labour Organisation and the world community that caused imposing sanctions, which led to economic slowdown and international isolation of the country.”

On behalf of 89 trade union centres from 55 countries of Europe and Asia, Shmakov calls on the authorities of Belarus to cancel Decree No. 9 that gives management of enterprises the right to prohibit workers from retiring on the ground of “modernisation of enterprises”.

Decree No.9 restricts the labour rights of workers of wood processing enterprises. All workers must sign employment agreements that cannot be terminated by an initiative of a worker without the consent of the employer during the period of implementation of investment projects (the years 2013-2014, according to minister of labour and social protection Marianna Shchotkina). Refusal of the employer to terminate the agreement can be appealed against to the chairman of the regional or Minsk city executive committee.

If employees of wood processing enterprises violate their work duties or dismiss, they must pay back the bonuses they received in additions to salaries. “If the employer fails to pay the bonuses, the sum will be collected from their wages at a new job. The unemployed persons must return to their previous job with bonuses being collected from their wages,” the decree reads.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 27 декабря 2012 г.

Congressman Smith: Lukashenka and Assad may ask for asylum in any country

The dictator and his henchmen have a chance to avoid the international tribunal.

This opinion was expressed by chairman of the US Helsinki Commission Congressman Christopher Smith in an interview with the Russian service of Voice of America.

He also spoke about the difference between the Magnitsky Act and Russia's response – Dima Yakovlev Bill, the current situation in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

He says Lukashenka will remain in power because he uses force and controls people resembling Nicolae Ceausescu, whose secret police was effective and cruel. He notes that all dictatorships are temporary. They fade and erode from inside unless they are changed by other systems of government. No dictatorships live forever, they all disappear sooner or later, the congressman says. If Lukashenka wanted to leave heritage after him, he should begin to speak about perestroika and glastnost, like Gorbachev did. It's never late to do so whatever terrible crimes he and his henchmen committed. Mr Smith gave an example of South Africa and Salvador, where people unite around the leader, who wants to turn to democracy. The politician says the US, waiting for changes, will impose sanctions on the country within the frames of the Belarus Democracy Act. He is confident the more the US and the EU support Belarusians struggling for freedom, the shorter Lukashenka's days will be.

Christopher Smith compared the Belarusian head of state with Slobodan Milosevic and Ratko Mladic, who stood The Hague Tribunal for war crimes.

He said they had been committing terrible crimes for some period of time torturing people and jailing them without trials, but it ended. As for Lukashenka, the congressman hopes that either people Lukashenka's circle will start reforms, either they will fly to another country and ask asylum there, like Syrian Assad can do. Lukashenka used to be a close friend of Milosevic, but there's no more Milosevic, Mr Smith noted underlining his confidence that Belarus will enjoy all benefits of the real democracy in the future.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

среда, 26 декабря 2012 г.

Mikalai Statkevich told about the provocation before the Square protest

The full text of the political prisoner’s letter from prison was posted at his web-site. It tells how he got into a trap in Niamiga.

Mikalai Statkevich’s wife Maryna Adamovich provides the text of his letter on her Facebook account and еру statkevich.org web-site. The political prisoner sent it on the eve of 19 December.

“… You know that it is yet another anniversary next week. I am not ashamed of that day. I cannot forgive myself only one thing – I let them to lead me into that trap. I do not know why Prakopavich [Niaklieu – Charter’97] needed to entice me in his office that way. But when we left the office together and I saw their bus with amplifying equipment, which they were going to take to the square, I immediately realized how this was going to end. Probably I should have run from there right away, because I must have been where I called people to come (at the square), but these children were so happy that I would go with them, so I simply could not leave them. And I did not have time to think, because they knew everything and did not let to make even 10 meters.

Although, it seems that I made no more mistakes, because it were instincts that worked further. I immediately covered my back, having stood near the police car, beat correctly, received the punches correctly. If I passed a single punch, I could not have made it anywhere, judging from the condition of my forearm, which I used to block the stick hits. It was also correct that I could not kick the mask that crawled to me because I did not consider it an enemy and was afraid to kick a head with my foot. The most important thing is that the scull appeared to be strong (the result of 600-years evolution) and one leg survived, which allowed to walk”, - Miakalai Statkevich says.

At the end of the letter there is an addition: “What is interesting is that if the Prakopavich’s team, when carrying out this force challenge or force provocation, realized that in our conditions it would inevitably cause the reaction that we got in the end or not. But forgive me for that recollection of the past, Because I told you all that a year ago”.

We would remind that on 19 December 2010 near Niamiga street unknown people wearing masks attacked the column which was going from the office of the presidential candidate Uladzimir Niakliaeu to October square. The incident happened in Niamiga street. A black patrol wagon blocked the way of the column, where Mikalai Statkevich was as well. First a smoke-puff charge was thrown at the column out of the wagon and then a group of unknown people in black got out of it and started beating the oppositionists.

Belarus prosecutor’s office refused to consider the case of the attack at the column.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

понедельник, 24 декабря 2012 г.

David Kramer pickets Belarusian embassy in Washington

Activists of We Remember initiative and members of the Belarusian-American Association picketed the Embassy of Belarus in Washington on December 19, the second anniversary of the Belarusian presidential “elections”.

President of Freedom House David Kramer, president of We Remember initiative Iryna Krasouskaya, members of the Joint Baltic American National Committee ( JBANC), Amnesty International and Fair Vote for Russia participated in the picket.

More than 20 picketers called on the Belarusian authorities to release all political prisoners, who were jailed ahead of or just after the “elections”.

Protesters had posters “Freedom for political prisoners in Belarus”, “Stop last dictator of Europe!” and portraits of the Belarusians forcefully disappeared in 1999-2000. Picketers handed out leaflets with information about human rights abuses in Belarus.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

суббота, 22 декабря 2012 г.

Riot police raids in Minsk centre

Riot policemen were stopping and searching young men in the Belarusian capital yesterday.
“Riot police officers stopped almost all young men aged from 16 to 25 near metro stations yesterday,” a reader writes.

Similar raids have become a routine both in Minsk centre and suburbs. The riot police detain young people and search their bags explaining they look for illegal substances.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 21 декабря 2012 г.

Doctor from Vitebsk: The authorities are weak and inadequate

A doctor from Vitebsk addresses the head of the Vitebsk region executive committee with a video appeal.
had previously reporter, recently the pediatrician Igar Postnou was fired from a Vitebsk clinic for publicly criticizing the head of the Vitebsk region Aliaksandr Kasinets. He said about squandering the budget resources and decline of public health care in the Vitebsk region, he publicly focused attention on the unfinished surgical building of the oncological hospital, delayed renovation of the infectious diseases hospital, temporary closedown of the Afghan center.

On 20 December the fired doctor recorded a video appeal ad posted it on youtube.

“I am Pastnou Igar Aliakseevich, a pediatrician from Vitebsk, whom, not without the participation of our General Governor, is being thrown out to the street today in the middle of winter for the reason that on many issues I do not agree with the policy carried out by our General Governor, Aliaksandr Mikalaevich Kasinets.

Many people are asking me today: Igar, why do you need that? Why do you need to torture your mother who is worried about you? Why do you need to lose your job, probably, the social status and may be the life itself? So, first of all I would like to respond that I am doing this in order to prove that it is possible to fight for your rights by legal means.

Secondly, I want to show how deprived of our rights we, medical workers, are. Not only do we earn little, but each of us may be treated like a dog, be dealt shortly without any objections. And thirdly, to show to what extent unsubstantiated are their words that they care about children, about patients, about people’s lives.

More than fifty parents have collected signatures today and sent them to the president’s aide demanding for me to be restored at work, for the contract to be prolonged with me and I got my former position. First of all I want to address the General Governor Aliaksandr Kasinets.

Esteemed General Governor, I think, it is improper to treat a person in that way only for the reason that he for the first doctor who refused to send children to the conditions of a casemate that are there in the infectious diseases hospital, where it would be hard to stay even for a healthy person. He was the first one to say the second hospital is not suited for being a medical institution, which people called a death valley for a reason. I was the first one to say that the policy of our General Governor is a soap bubble existing at the expense of loans, which would soon burst and everyone would see what it stood on – on tears, shortage of money or impossibility of a proper renovation of the infectious diseases hospital.

I, for example, have now tears in my eyes, when I see that we have wasted the summer and now, when we are facing the frosts of minus twenty, the finishing works still continue although it can be seen that everything falls apart right away. A cannot look at that, cannot look how money is being buried in the ground. The General Governor Kasinets when still being a rector (and I am responsible for my words) dealt shortly with six professors who had written an open letter against his methods of management. One of the professors had a heart attack; the others lost their jobs and positions.

My case is to the first one that is why I want to say: this will not happen. People, parents, children have all supported me. The methods of the authorities are not very inadequate and coward. That is why I want to say that our authorities are, unfortunately, very weak today.

They are weak in the way that there is only one person who works, only one person who thinks. The officials in the regions have lost the ability to think independently, that is why they take such absolutely inadequate actions.

Today I was forbidden to make rounds in the districts because they are afraid that I will agitate there for parents’ protests against such actions. But the parents are collecting signatures themselves, practically without my participation; they are filled with indignation by such behavior of the authorities. Now everyone has seen how weak our authorities are and how primitive their actions are.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 20 декабря 2012 г.

Dzmitry Bandarenka: Lukashenka knew: the entire Belarus would rise on 20 December

Two years have gone since our Square.
- Dzmitry, the past year of your life has been full of events. It began in jail, went on in a relative freedom in Belarus, ended in emigration. Let’s start from the very beginning, the prison. The first six months – how were they?

- I struggled to survive. I won’t go into details describing my condition, but it was hard. It was about physical survival. A human body has a limited capacity, and all the stress, previous arrests, assaults during demonstration, rallies, a rather difficult election campaign, - it all left its trace. And let’s not forget the “special” conditions of the KGB prison. I spent one month in the brutal jail in Valadarski street. I had to undergo a surgery. I was transferred to the Magiliou reformatory. I reached my physical limit…

- What kept you going?

- In the beginning it was the direct resistance, because when you see your enemies face to face, it automatically makes you fight for your rights, your view of life. It becomes an incentive.

Then the new people. In prison, there are many interesting, bright people. I always knew that not all of them are criminals. To talk to these people, their different point of view gave me stimulus to survive. What is interesting about these people is that they care about Belarus’ fate, about its future, they discuss the situation in the country and the ways to improve it, they share their plans for life. Even in jail there can be spiritual life, sometimes rather rich. There are lots of outstanding personalities with unique minds.

Contacts with other people and support from the outer world kept me going. First of all, I mean my wife, daughter, my friends. I knew from newspapers and radio Svaboda that I am not forgotten. And of course it helped a lot to be able to attend catholic public worships in the Belarusian language held in the reformatory.

- When you were in prison, many people said: the authorities take revenge upon Bandarenka for the mass rallies that he had organized in Belarus during all these years, and they won’t release him because he can again organize the people today when the country is in an economic crisis.

- I know what I’m worth, I know what I have done in my life, but the strategy of the KGB and the police is different. Sometimes they said – we know who you are, we know what you’ve done. But as a matter of fact, they had a different task – to suppress, to convince that nobody needs you, that what you do is useless, that everyone has forgotten about you. I never felt that they kept me for what I had done. They just fought against me as against an enemy, as a manifestation of the Belarusian life.

In the KGB jail I realized that they are Satan’s servants. Their objective is to steal a human soul, to force the person to give false testimonies against their friends, family, to make them deny their ideals and principles. I saw clearly how these monsters, just like on Bosch's paintings, try to take a human soul. They have no ideology. As a matter of fact, they are really small. Their only concern is the number of stars on their shoulder straps, a salary bonus, money. It has nothing to do with any national or state interests, honor, dignity, principles.

- Basically Sannikov’s team became the number-one target for the authorities. Why?

- Because on 19 December we broke their scenario. During interrogations, KGB officers were yelling: ”at 19:30 the election was already completed, and you ruined everything”. They thought that they could simply “shut off” Niakliaieu, and that would be the end of it all. They were shocked by the scale of the rally and the opposition’s intention to negotiate with Sidorski. After that Lukashenka got the actual data of how people had voted. Even those who had voted ahead of time didn’t give their votes for Lukashenka. I believe that there were special voting stations where the votes were counted without fraud; there, they knew the truth, how many votes there were for Sannikov. That explains the reaction.

- And how many votes were given to Sannikov?

- I think it was 25-30%. Moreover, Niakliaiu got more than 10%. Many people voted for other candidates. 9%, according to the official data, voted against all candidates. Lukashenka gathered not more than 40%, or even less, in the entire country. That’s where all this hysteria comes from.

- You mean that Sannikov made it to the second round?

- Exactly. Foreign Ministers of the European Union said that the second round of voting must be held in Belarus. Everyone knows that Sannikov should have been in the second round. Observers that worked at voting stations in Minsk and other cities registered that he was leading among the democratic candidates with a big gap, losing only to Lukashenka.

- At the same time, they say that Sannikov’s team had nearly no money, unlike some other candidates.

- I don’t want to discuss other candidates. I admit that we were short on funds. In the KGB jail they tried to make me answer where the money was. Then they realized that there had not been any money, and it came as a big surprise. But Sannikov is a person that the people really needed. It was obvious from the first days, when we started to collect signatures. From the beginning of the election campaign people went after Sannikov, they arrived from all over the country and queued just to give their signature. Sannikov had gathered a strong team from the entire specter of democratic forces. Meanwhile, Lukashenka didn’t have anyone, but teachers from schools, kindergartens and universities were forced to give their signatures for him.

There is a certain pendulum, people vote for a brighter option. Rude and rough Lukashenka got a new opponent – diplomatic, calm, intelligent, noble person with a rigid character and life views, a self-made professional. People felt that.

By the way, the position of some independent websites was obscure. They claimed that since there was no “common” candidate, all independent candidates were similar and were to be provided the same amount of coverage – Tsiareshchenka, Kastusiou, Sannikov. Some analysts made mysterious forecasts that there would be no Square, that there was no leader. But it became clear during the meetings with voters – there is a leader, and it is Sannikov. The meeting halls were full!

I spoke with Milinkievich’s team once and asked them what the most difficult during their nation-wide trips was. Apparently, it was the envoys of the special services who ask inconvenient questions, try to break the scenario of the meetings. But not a single meeting was sabotaged during Sannikov’s trips. People were glad to see him and his team. The provocateurs were simply afraid of voters’ reaction, that’s what the atmosphere was like.

- But what about the result? Sannikov spent a year and a half in prison, he had to leave the country. He was indeed very famous. People made their choice – Sannikov could have become the Belarusian president that the country needs. What can be done with this potential today?

- We still have Sannikov, and other strong political and intellectual leaders. The opinion of the Belarusian people and Belarusian voters is known.

I believe that the economic disaster of 2011 was a “service” of Lukashenka and his government. On the other hand, partially it was done to make people think only how to survive, to keep their savings, to store food at home – to focus on other things and stop being a nation.

There is a term of “political people.” In Rzecz Pospolita, Great Dutchy of Lithuania, and other countries, the people consisted basically of the elite, while the population, peasants, lived to survive. Yes, today we all have the right to vote, but as a matter of fact only few care about their country and are ready to fight for it – just like 200-300 years ago.

This mechanism was started up in Belarus. There is no middle class; those people who have benefited from the IMF loan, mortgages, some minor household loans, now realize that everything is relative, and nothing actually belongs to them – neither apartments, nor cars, other things that they purchased for the borrowed money. And they stopped thinking about the politics, about Sannikov. They only thought how to save themselves, to save their family, survive and keep their jobs.

But we know and the authorities know that Lukashenka is not popular anymore, and this is most crucial. He keeps his power with batons and violent suppression of people. It cannot last long.

- The moral position of the West remained rigid. The West made accusations and imposed certain sanctions.

- Lukashenka has no faith in words. When he sees that the goods turnover with the West is rising, that he’s getting more money, that he can afford his special services, while the nation’s salaries fall, - he is insane. He saw that the West would not take decisive actions to help the opposition. Lukashenka was afraid of that for a long time, but then he saw that it is not happening – and it calmed him down.

The problem is, that we have never had a serious international ally. In 2011 after his political loss at the elections Lukashenka lost economically, but we had no serious international partners who could support Belarusian democratic forces instead of giving a helping hand to the dictator. Limitations on potassium were abolished, purchases of oil products from Belarus increased.

- Today we hear politicians calling to impose sanctions on export of oil products and potassium from Belarus, but European politicians say it is impossible because it is difficult to reach an agreement of all 27 EU countries.

- In my view, the problem is not only about the sanctions. We need a professional and intelligent approach to the situation in Belarus. Maybe we don’t need the sanctions after all. Maybe all we need is support of the opposition and civil society. We need investments in modern mass media, to provide Belarusian people with free information.

The sanctions are not a real threat. During the last two years, the trade with the dictator has doubled. No significant diplomatic steps have been taken regarding either Lukashenka or Russia. And the most important thing is that all the conversations about the support of the civil society and opposition in Belarus are mere twaddle, because all the discussed support, dozens of million dollars, is nonsense. For example, Belsat has major funding problems, along with Radio Racja, Euroradio, many independent website and other papers.

The problem is that neither the EU nor the US has a clear strategy regarding Belarus.

- 14 political prisoners are in jail today. When you were in prison, what did you expect from the West, what were your hopes?

- It was obvious for me that in 2011 Lukashenka’s regime could fall.

Once I noticed that people from the KGB were scared. I had no information at first, but then I found out that the European Parliament adopted a resolution “On Tortures in Belarus”, that gave a clear warning to the people who shamelessly violate the law that there is no expiration term for the crimes against humanity. Each and every of them got a warning, and I could see its effect on everyone in the KGB staff, from an official to a guard. It was a powerful step, but equally powerful steps should have followed. And if Belsat, for example, had started working 24 hour per day, if Radio Racja had strengthened its signal, if human rights organizations had got more help… And what did we get? Exactly the opposite: EU countries helped Belarusian authorities put the most influential Belarusian human rights activist in jail. That was the solidarity that we got.

They blame it on some officials, but it would have never happened with a plan. We were demonstrated that Belarus still was on the periphery of the European politics. The countries of Europe, probably with the exception of Poland and Sweden, don’t care about Belarus. But it is important that outstanding politicians get involved in the Belarusian case, like European Parliament member Marek Migalski, congressman Christopher Smith, Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris, some media, human rights activists, just people who care, people from the world of culture, world stars who together with the Belarus Free Theater walked out to rallies with portraits of the Belarusian political prisoners.

Let’s not forget about the role of poet Byron in the Greek war for independence. At that time no empire was interested in Greece leaving the Ottoman Empire. But after Byron had come to Greece and died fighting for its independence, the public opinion in Europe changed, and the governments had to deal with the fact that the lord, the great poet gave his life for the freedom of Greece. The same thing is happening right now: stars and world-famous public figures are involved in the fight for Belarus’ freedom, which it gives us hope and makes governments react to the situation in the country.

- But I get the feeling that a politician’s memory is short, and many people in the world started to forget what happened in Belarus on December 19, 2010.

- That’s not the point. We saw an “Arab spring” that changed everything drastically. If there had been peaceful rallies in Belarus before that, in the Arab spring thousands of people died fighting for freedom. Dozens of thousands have already died in Syria, but the West does basically nothing. Because there is neither a strategy for Belarus, nor a strategy for Syria. They just wait for it to get solved.

There was a “concept of stability” saying that there should be a circle of stable nations around the European Union. They supported neighbor-dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Serbia, Belarus, Algeria. This concept is wrong. It is meaningless to support dictators. The people will depose them in the end, which creates the arc of instability if there were no significant investments in the democratic forces of these countries. The present unstable situation in the Mediterranean, the defeat of the “Orange revolution” in Ukraine, revanchism in Russia, the Belarusian dictatorship’s aggressiveness are all the result of the West’s failure to react accordingly. Dictators get billions of dollars from their trade with the West, while democratic forces are mostly left to survive on their own.

Let me share my opinion. I believe that there was a conspiracy between Lukashenka and certain forces in the West according to which he was supposed to allow a relatively liberal election campaign while the West was supposed to recognize the results of the elections, and new financial flows would come to the dictatorship to sustain the much-discussed stability. But here, Lukashenka’s technologies overestimated their capacity. One month of relative freedom created a public “mirror” and it became clear that nobody supports the dictator. The plan collapsed. When Lukashenka saw the scale of the protests, he started unbelievable repressions – otherwise hundreds of thousands of people would have come out to the streets of Minsk the next day, and the entire Belarus would revolt. That was the light and the energy that the Belarusians exuded on 19 December. Happy peaceful people were walking in the city and chanted “Leave! Leave!”.

A liberalization of Belarus will not happen again. Lukashenka will never get rid of the fear of December 19.

- Former Foreign Minister of Slovakia Pavol Demes believes that in dictatorships, the West should support, first of all, those who fight for human rights. In this case changes can be possible.

- There is an old conflict between positivists and romantics. Romantics of Rzecz Pospolita and Great Dutchy of Lithuania were ready to fight for freedom, armed if necessary: from time to time they organized revolts, they went to prisons and guillotine, to Siberia. New generations came and saw them as heroes and examples despite their loss. And there were Litvin-poets Mitskiewicz, Slovacki who worshipped the struggle and rebel. The positivists said that we must build a nation, do little specific things. This conflict is still going. I cannot say what is better.

What should we do today? We should spread information in any ways, and we should support those who suffer from repressions. But we must also think how to preserve our language, how to publish books on the Belarusian history, we should support the expression of the Belarusian thought in the cinema, music, literature, fine arts. I would say that we should support every living thing. What is the fight against dictatorship for me? The dictatorship is dead, but here we have life. We must support life.

- How has the nature of repressions in Belarus changed since December 19, 2010? How has the work of the special services, power structures changed?

- Even in the Soviet Union there was an ideology, some kind of corporate ethics and rules. And the KGBists who survived Stalin repressions and made it to Brezhnev times realized that mass repressions can be dangerous even for them. The KGBists who survived the perestroika realized how dangerous it is to follow orders of crazy governors – sooner or later everything will be disclosed, archives will be opened, and the names of the punishers will be published in the popular Ogoniok magazine, will be mentioned on the TV, will be made known to the public.

The first directors of the Belarusian special services were smarter: they survived the perestroyka and acted differently. Then the team of Vitsia Lukashenka took their place. Uneducated people with no principles, they only recognize money, power, possibility to command others, to demonstrate their white-trashy uniqueness. These people are dangerous. And a part of them would shoot peaceful people if given the order.

The special forces have been entirely “idiotized”. These people should be brought up on such principles as the love to the motherland, patriotism, honor, dignity, service. But it is nothing like that. They see the example of their leader who organizes masquerades, puts a fool’s military costume on himself and his child and makes people nod. Even in the Soviet Union nothing similar happened.

- So this is even worse than the fear of some protests?

- This is like the evil dead in the movie. It is hard to demand something from the creatures that came from another world. Zombies have their logic, behavior, they are unpredictable.

- The other day a Western diplomat said behind the curtains that Lukashenka’s disease is progressing, and that the end is near.

- Nobody lives forever, but I’m afraid that the Belarusian problem with Lukashenka will not end there. The “idiotization” of the force structures happened a little bit later, after it struck the power vertical. The question is, whether we are ready for changes. We should be ready to catch the power, we should have professionals who can take intelligent steps from the very beginning. We should have the staff to form the first democratic government, we should be morally ready for changes, we need the support of the international community. Every day those who are forced to work abroad and those who are in Belarus should be ready for new authorities.

- But today the opposition is searching for a candidate for the 2015-election.

- We have three years until the “election”, is there nothing else to do? We should think how to spread information, illegal printed materials, how to help families of political prisoners – these are the crucial things. I was shocked to find out that not all political prisoners got the required help, legal and material. Someone is recognized as a political prisoner, someone isn’t. Apparently, there are problems even there. But 300 NGOs will keep on arguing and reflecting whether they should engage in politics, instead of helping the families of the political prisoners. I believe that the preparation of the election 2015 is another provocation from the authorities.

- It has become much more difficult for the opposition to work in Belarus.

- We should develop a strategy that includes the changing circumstances. After 19 December, the situation changed drastically. A legal political activity in Belarus is basically impossible because the way the authorities fight the opposition has changed. It doesn’t mean that we cannot do anything. It means that we should fight the dictatorship differently.

- Solzhenitsyn said that a person is never as happy as the first year after prison. Why did you leave Belarus so fast?

- They thought they broke me. And for me, the most important thing was to remain myself. It is hard in prison: there you must obey, at least formally. When I was released I couldn’t be silent. I understood that I risked getting back to prison, but I tried to tell the truth about what I had gone through, what I had seen, and to assess the situation.

Everyone has read about the tortures in the Leninski district police department. It was there I was registered. After the threats announced by Lukashenka on the TV the pressure grew stronger.

I didn’t plan to leave the country. But when I went to Poland via Lithuania for the treatment, that very night the Swedish plane entered Belarus. The Swedes held the action partially dedicated to the website charter97.org. Of course, I don’t work with the website, but I am connected with the brand. It became obvious that if I returned I’d get back to prison because those funny generals who had missed the flight are trembling with rage and looking for enemies. And when I found out about the prison term of Dzima Dashkievich and new arrests of Parfiankou and Mauchanau who already were freed, I realized that Lukashenka decided to hold hostages in hope to trade them for new loans. I got out from the captivity and I didn’t want to play their rules anymore. I want to see my country free. Their methods haven’t changed, which means that we should change our approaches.

- Your grandfather was a partisan, and even a partisan unit was named in his honor. For you, the fight with the dictatorship has become the sense of life. How can emigrants fight?

- The logic is plain simple. After 19 December the authorities have been fighting with peaceful opposition as if they were terrorists. Any political leader who is active and somewhat effective will be neutralized by the authorities. That is why the decision-making center, the headquarters should be transferred to a safe place, and a part of the structures should become illegal. The Belarusian opposition should transform and use the same methods that the Polish Solidarnosc.

Our goal should be finding serious international allies for the Belarusian democratic forces. We keep on saying in the West that only democratic forces can guarantee the independence, can represent the Belarusian state. Any games, any appeals to give Lukashenka money (“or he’ll turn to Russia”) are stupid. Lukashenka’s regime is occupational. It destroys the national culture, education, national spirit and consciousness. We advocate for non-violent resistance, but the centers of decision-making and independent media should be moved to safe places.

- Are you opening the second front?

- No, this is not the second front, this is just another way to act. The situation has changed. What could be done in the country during the election campaign, before December 19, 2010, is impossible today.

Bandareknka, Sannikov and others could have left Belarus for a long time ago, and have a good life today. Nevertheless, they stayed, fought, went through prison, took part in demonstrations, took risks and organized the Square. We are not going to simply sit and wait, because there is certain logic. If we have fought for so long, we will continue fighting.

- But there are still many heroes in Belarus who need support.

- It is not about a total emigration. But as I was taught in the army, the role of the quarters’ commander is crucial. There are many people ready to struggle in Belarus. The way Mikalai Statkievich, Dzmitry Dashkievich, Mikalai Autukhovich hold on is incredibly important for the future generations. This is a fight of spirit. But it is nearly impossible to impact the situation and to lead the Resistance from prison. We should change our approaches. The Belarusian opposition must act as the Polish Solidarnosc, in similar conditions.

- Does your headquarters have a plan?

- Yes-

- What kind of plan?

- We don’t reveal our plans, we fulfill them. We link our lives to Belarus, and we believe in changes in the near future.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

среда, 19 декабря 2012 г.

Andrei Sannikov in The Times: Free the prisoners of Europe’s last dictator

Britain newspaper has published the articlt of the leader of civil campaign «European Belarus».

Here is the text in full.

Exactly two years ago, I joined tens of thousands of my fellow Belarussians in Minsk to demand respect for our rights and, most importantly, our right to choose our own government. That day I had stood as a candidate in a presidential “election” against Alexander Lukashenko, widely known as Europe’s last dictator.

Faced with the same kind of popular, non-violent movement that has felled so many despots this century, the regime’s response was swift. In a scene that belongs to Europe’s past, police moved in and attacked peaceful protesters. I was severely beaten and hundreds were arrested, including my wife and other presidential candidates.

I was thrown into the notorious Amerikanka prison, run by the security service that still calls itself the KGB. My knee had been smashed by the police, but the guards refused me treatment; my physical condition worsened as I was subjected to humiliating strip searches in freezing cells. The pressure continued as I was moved from prison to prison further to isolate me from the outside world.

Although most demonstrators were released within a few weeks, some of us — mostly journalists, activists and opposition candidates — were charged with inciting or participating in a riot. For exercising my rights, I was sentenced to five years in prison. But in April this year, after 16 months in jail, I was released and compelled to seek political asylum in the UK.

My wife, the journalist Irina Khalip, received a suspended two-year sentence. Despite claims by Lukashenko himself that she is free to join me, police still prevent her, and my son, from leaving Minsk. She is subject to a curfew and is regularly harassed by officers late at night, which frightens our boy.

The Belarussian Government continues to hold political prisoners, including the human rights defender Ales Bialatski and Nikolai Statkevich, another presidential candidate, who is now two years into a six-year prison term for participating in the post-election demos; and the youth leader Zmicer Dashkevich. These brave men are only some of the 14 political prisoners in Belarus today who suffer unbearable conditions behind bars.

Mild sanctions were imposed against the regime after the 2010 crackdown, but more can be done. As we mark two years since that brutality I urge my fellow Europeans to do what it takes to secure the release of prisoners of conscience. It shames the democratic world to have such a brutal dictatorship in Europe. Belarussians deserve better, and we need your help and solidarity.

Andrei Sannikov is a Belarussian opposition politician and former diplomat.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 14 декабря 2012 г.

Andrei Sannikau: There will be changes in Belarus soon

On 19 December it is second anniversary of the Square protest.

Radio Svaboda is questioning the presidential candidates 2010: about the lessons of the previous campaign and the upcoming 2015 elections. The leader of the European Belarus civic campaign and former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikau answered the radio’s questions.

- What are the main lesson of the elections 2010 for you?

- I would single out two lessons of that campaign. First, if I can say so, - is the emotional lesson. It is that I felt huge support of the people, who want changes in the country and crave for freedom. It could be observed at stage of signature collection, as well as during the meetings with people all around Belarus, also in the square on 19 December 2010, where people felt freedom and united in freedom. The second lesson is political. It is what was clear on 19 December and what is seen today, that there must have been the second round. I made it to the second round, but it was the success of the work of all the independent candidates and their teams. And it is exactly that what caused the hysteria, which is still in place on the part of the authorities.

- Are you going to run for president in 2015?

- What elections can we talk about? The final period was put there in Belarusian elections in 2010. There is no such an institute in our country with the dictatorship of Lukashenka and the people realized that. That is why people did not come and participate in the electoral farce, the so-called parliamentary elections in September this year. And that this date, this 2015 year, is attempted to be imposed in the society – it is done by the regime in order to distract the attention from today’s problem, like there are no more important problems in Belarus’ political life. But they exist and they are connected exactly with the existence of the dictatorial regime in Belarus. The last remaining human rights and freedoms disappear, villages are being burnt, and the serfdom comes back to Belarus. These are the problems of today, but not the year of 2015. And the regime, which rules in Belarus, it is dangerous for its people.

- What advice would you give the opposition candidate at 2015 elections?

- I would like to tell the opposition leaders and all the citizens of Belarus that we need to preserve what we experienced on 19 December 2010 during the Square protest. By the way, it was the strongest resistance action in the latest years. I am proud that I was in the Square, and I am proud that I was there with you, I would want to thanks all the people, who supported us, who also were there in the Square. What happened next, when I was in prison, it is also a tool for resistance – it is solidarity. That is exactly what is needed today, it is needed in order to save, release the political prisoners we must help the families of the political prisoners. And it is exactly due to solidarity, I am sure, that changes will soon happen in Belarus. Long live Belarus!

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 13 декабря 2012 г.

Lukashenka: “One must act against the workers with a tight rein”

The dictator demanded unconditional implementation of the “serfdom decree”.

“Take it all in your hands, in iron mittens, and act”, - Lukashenka stated on Thursday, when visiting the public company Magileudreu, Interfax reports.

Addressing the new administration of the enterprise, the ruler asked: “Are you fine with the decree? Or are there nuances and faults?”. “We are fine with it”, - the company’s director general answered.

“Will we achieve the main goal: for you to be the boss here, like in the West, and all the workers and specialists to work at their best? Is the decree enough in order to do that?”, - Lukashenka asked, receiving a positive answer.

The dictator continued with asking: “Has the outflow of the working force stopped? You keep in mind that they (the workers - Interfax) do not have a right to quit without your authorization”.

“And if anyone leaves – will be sent back here for compulsory works”, - Lukashenka stated.

Lukashenka admitted: “Yes, we are holding the people here by force”.

“Why? Because they failed the tasks, caused harm, if you will”, - he explained. In this regard he demanded from the administrations and workers of the timber processing enterprises “to strain temselves in the course of this and the following years, do what have not been done here in five years”.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

среда, 12 декабря 2012 г.

David Kramer: Europe should stop backing Lukashenka

Goods turnover between the EU and Belarus grows and the money is spent to back the dictator.

The president of Freedom House thinks sanctions are the main mechanism to influence the Belarusian authorities, Voice of America reports.

The Freedom House president thinks the international community, at least the EU and the USA, should continue their tough position. Though some people in the West think the policy of sanctions failed, the reason for ineffectiveness of the sanctions was that Russia saved Lukashenka with a loan of several billions in November 2011, David Kramer thinks. He says tough sanctions should be further applied and calls on European countries to review their policy with Belarus. The turnout increases and it means the money is spent on backing Lukashenka. Pressure is the only language Lukashenka understands, David Kramer says. He thinks the European Union and the United States will continue this policy and will further support the civil society and the opposition in Belarus, because it is important for receiving information from the country.

The president Freedom House thinks political repressions in Belarus has only increased since the crackdown on the rally of 30,000 people in Minsk in 2010.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

вторник, 11 декабря 2012 г.

Congressman Smith: Lukashenka must stand before the Hague court

The Belarusian ruler is guilty of crimes against humanity.

In order to change the situation with human rights in Belarus, world leaders should regularly draw attention to the state of things in the country, and Aliaksandr Lukashenka must stand before the International Criminal Court in the Hague for crimes against humanity, the head of the US Congress’ Helsinki Committee believes, the Voice of America reports.

Making a speech at the event on the occasion of the second anniversary of the brutal crackdown on the 30-thousand demonstration in the center of Minsk on 19 December 2010, an American congressman Christopher Smith stated that the United States should increase the support to the civil society in Belarus.

“In the light of increasing repressions it is absolutely necessary for the US’ government not to just keep supporting the civil society and human rights activists, but to increase this support. We also must take Lukashenka and his henchmen accountable for the way they treat political prisoners and the people fighting for free Belarus”, - the head of the US Congress’ Helsinki Committee stated.

The Belarusian delegation that arrived to participate in the hearings included the chairwoman of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Zana Litsvina, the president of the Belarusian Human Rights House Tatsiana Raviaka and the wife of the political prisoner (former head of the human rights center Viasna and also a vice-president of the International Human Rights Federation) Ales Bialiatski – Natalia Pinchuk.

Talking about the situation in Belarus Zhana Litsvina regretfully stated that control over the society and pressure on free media increase in Belarus.

“I have to say today that the policy in Belarus remains the same, that the confrontation is of a tough nature and that in the past 18 years we have for the first time faced the situation when the domestic policies are aimed at only two priorities. First, it is toughening the control over the society; second, it is intensifying the work of the state propaganda machine”, - Litsvina stated.

Natalia Pinchuk agreed with such an assessment of the situation, having emphasized that the international community does not have a right to stay aside, but should in the contrary unite in their pressure on the Belarusian authorities in order for the latter to not only release but also rehabilitate the ones unlawfully convicted.

“The absence of any reaction leads to connivance and further worsening of the situation. In this sense, of course, it is very important to coordinate the positions of the European Union countries and the United States. It is possible to do only by joint efforts”, - the wife of the human rights activist noted.

At the same time the speakers pointed out that politicians in Europe have long begun showing “open tiredness” every time when a discussion concerns another set of human rights violations in Belarus.

“And it is not surprising. Recently I have found out the figure: since 1996 the European Parliament has adopted 114 resolutions on Belarus”, - Litsvina noted.

The Belarusian activists emphasized the toughened control over the Interned – the last remaining fore post of free media in Belarus. According to the speakers, the country’s leadership has adopted a number of legislative measures limiting the access to the politically undesirable web-sites.

“I would ask you to note that among the five web-sites, which are now in the black list, there is the web-page of the human rights center Viasna. However, I am reminding you that we are dealing with human rights protection; we do neither pornography, nor children traffic”, - the head of the Belarusian Human Rights House Tatsiana Raviaka pointed out.

The activists reminded of another ambiguous legislative initiative of the Belarusian authorities – the prosecution of the organizers of the so-called “silent protests”, which were caused by a rapid drop of the Belarusian rouble’s exchange rate last year. In summer 2011, according to the Belarusians, police detained around three thousand people who were innocently silent.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

понедельник, 10 декабря 2012 г.

European Congress: How Belarus can be freed from the dictator?

Lukashenka boasts of being “Europe’s last dictator”.

The situation in Belarus was discussed during the Third European Congress of Human rights held in Polish Katowice. The event was organized by the office of European Deputy Marek Migalski (Poland) and the Polish association Projekt Slask.

A range of public figures and politicians have taken part in the congress: the first head of state of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkievich; editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallia Radzina; director of Euroradio Dzmitry Novikau; youth leader, journalist of Radio Svaboda Franak Viachorka; head of Movement of the Future Viachaslau Dzihanau; political scientist, former ambassador of Belarus to Russia and Moldova Viktar Ross; expert of the Center for Eastern Studies Katarzyna Jasinska; editor-in-chief of New Eastern Europe magazine Andrzej Brzeziecki; director of Kharkiv office of Institute of Gorshenin Konstantin Vinokurov; chairperson of Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Eastern Europe Collegium Jan Andrzej Dąbrowski; host of the Polish TV-show Studio Wschód Maria Pszelomiec.
In his introduction speech, Marek Migalski explained why this year the congress includes sections on Belarus, Russia and Ukraine:

“Unfortunately, in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus the situation with human rights and democracy has not improved compared to the previous years. Of course, we can compare, but we should be aware of the difference between the classic dictatorship in Belarus and the situation in Ukraine. Today Russia is somewhere in the middle.

I work for the European Parliament commissions on Belarus and Russia, and we are deeply concerned with the situation around human rights in these three countries. We start the discussion with the Belarusian situation, the most problematic, where members of the opposition are forced to live abroad. Belarus is the country where there is absolutely no respect for the democratic standards of human rights; the country whose dictator boasts to foreign media that he is Europe’s last dictator. He may see this as a reason to be glad, but here, in Europe, we should be sad for not being able to do something today to free 10 million of people from this dictator,” the European Parliament deputy said.

The first leader of independent Belarus Stanislau Shushkievich pointed to the facts that explain Russia’s support of the Belarusian dictatorship:

“In Belarus, the law doesn’t work. Europe has proclaimed Lukashenka’s constitution undemocratic. The constitution works only when it meets the interests of the ruling mob. Why is that happening? Because our Eastern neighbor benefits from this situation. Russia supports the Belarusian dictatorship because this dictator can do what Russia cannot do, for example, trade weapons with the countries under embargo who support terrorists. The Soviet Union disappeared from the world map, but it is preserved in Belarus” Stanislau Shushkievich said.
Editor of charter97.org Natallia Radzina remarked that unless the West develops a working strategy and an understanding of how grave the situation in Belarus – and in Russia and Ukraine, too – is, this situation is not likely to change.

“Lukashenka has been ruling the country for almost 20 years, and I recall that for some time ago Russian democrats made jokes of him. Basically the Belarusian dictatorship existed at Russia’s expense, which didn’t bother the rather democratic politicians who ruled the country at that time. Today the same politicians have turned into the opposition, political prisoners; they are searched and thrown to jails – the fate that has found us, Belarusian oppositionist, long time ago.

Stanislau Shushkievich, Yeltsin and Kravchuk made the Soviet Union collapse in 1991. But as a matter of fact, the Soviet Union is being restored today. And the world must see this threat. Deterioration of the situation with democracy in Russia and Ukraine has become possible because the West has not been treating Lukashenka’s dictatorship properly. With his example, Lukashenka has showed Putin, for instance, that it is possible to murder and repress the opposition, to suppress all democratic rights and freedoms, to violate international obligations – and not to suffer any consequences,” Natallia Radzina emphasized.
Youth leader Franak Viachorka spoke about the completely new phenomenon that appeared in Belarus after 2010 – the pseudo-opposition:

“The Belarusian society is indeed very isolated, it has no access to free information, but on the other hand, there appear more and more people who realize that the dictatorship’s resources are exhausted. A new law has been recently adopted that prohibits mass gatherings, both with and without an intention to act. This shows that any initiative from the opposition to hold, for example, a “silent action”, provokes a most stupid reaction of the powers.

There are two Unions of Writers, two Unions of Journalists, two Unions of Poles. It shows that fake organizations are established to distract or confuse the people. Just like that a pseudo-opposition appears that calls not to fight Lukashenka, but to negotiate, cooperate – the way the Polish opposition sat down at a “round table” with Jaruzelski. But Lukashenka is not Jaruzelski, and our situation is completely different,” Viachorka pointed out.
The participants of the congress talked about the growing pressure on journalists from the Belarusian powers.

As Natallia Radzina remarked, the articles of the Criminal Code applied to journalists are most ridiculous and severe:

“If previously journalists were charged mostly often with “defamation of the president” and “insult of the president”, today we see Iryna Khalip, journalist, wife of the leader of European Belarus Andrei Sannikov, convicted to two years of imprisonment with a respite for taking part in “mass disorders”; a criminal case was initiated against photographer Anton Surapin for having assisted “breach of the national border” just because he had uploaded photographs of the teddy bears thrown down from the airplane.

But it gets worse: the KGB charged youth activist Andrei Gaidukou with treason for having distributed the newspaper Charter’97 (which is a printed version of the website). And he can be convicted to 3, 5, 7 or 10 years of imprisonment.”

The journalist urged to show more support to the political prisoners. “Today not all political prisoners receive full aid from human rights organizations, which is a problem,” she said.

Director of the Euroradio Dzmitry Novikau emphasized that independent electronic media in Belarus cannot work properly:

”For example, in Belarus there are 23 radio stations that are called independent, but in fact there is no radio or television station without state-own capital. A state organization or business is always present as one of the shareholders. All the information they get must be authorized by the powers, so we have to work from Poland. According to the Belarusian Constitution, every citizen has the right to get free information, and journalists have the right to collect this information, but in reality there is no such right. Our goal is to restore this right in Belarus.”
Leader of the Movement of the Future Viachaslau Dzianau said that no matter how hard the powers press the independent media, they cannot stop people from using the Internet:

“You cannot stop the progress, and Lukashenka has got a new foe – social media. For him, it is something new, something obscure. Just like he said during a conference: “Someone pushes a button, and a missile will fly out and land here.” And for the special services, the Internet is something new. They knew how to fight street rallies, knew how to fight journalists, but they didn’t know at first how to fight network activists. And so the special services unfolded mass repressions against network activists that are still going on: the people who are involved in online actions are arrested, blackmailed and intimidated, their computers are withdrawn. But I believe that in the future it will be even harder for the special services to fight against us, because you cannot stop Internet. However isolated Belarus is, the Internet here is developing. Protest rallies will be set up online, and the day when the dictatorship falls, the social media will play the most active part.”

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

суббота, 8 декабря 2012 г.

Dictator adopts “serfdom decree”

The dictator has signed decree No. 9 “On additional measures to develop the wood processing industry”.

The document was adopted to “boost effectiveness of the state support measures in implementation of investment projects to develop the wood processing industry, strengthen work discipline and encourage employees financially”.

The decree provides for signing employment contracts with employees of the wood processing enterprises that receive state aid for modernisation, technical reequipment and reconstruction of production operations in accordance with Lukashenka's ruling No. 529 of October 18, 2007, “On some measures to develop the wood processing industry”.

Early termination of employment contracts in the period of implementation of investment projects on the initiative of an employee is possible only with the consent of the employer. An employer may apply to the head of the Minsk region or Minsk city executive committee to appeal against the refusal of the employer to terminate the agreement.

The decree obliges to pay monthly bonuses (their amount is set by enterprises in accordance with their financial abilities) to personnel of wood processing enterprises in addition to the salary set up by employment agreements.

If an employee violates his or her employment duties and gets fired, the amount of monthly bonuses is be returned for the whole period of work.

If not returned, the bonuses will be recovered by court and deducted from former employee's salary at his or her new job. Unemployed persons must return to their previous work. The amount of bonuses will be held back from their salaries.

The decree proposes the same regime for employees of main contractors and engineering organisations participating in investment projects on technical reequipment, modernisation and reconstruction of production operations of wood processing enterprises.

The decree provides for administrative responsibility for a contractor (a subcontractor and an engineering organisation) for failing to comply with the time of performance of investment projects in the form of a fine from 10 to 100 basic units or a fine from 50 to 500 basic units for a legal entity.

It should be reminded that Lukashenka said last Friday during his visit to Borisdrev factory that employees of wood processing enterprises in the process of modernisation would be banned from quitting.

“Prepare the decree: employees cannot quit unless modernisation and reconstruction of the enterprises are completed. An employee cannot resign without the consent of the employer,” Lukashenka said.

The dictator threatened to send workers to compulsory work in case of arbitrary dismissals.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 7 декабря 2012 г.

Mikhnevich wants OSCE to forget about human rights

A Belarusian delegation calls on the organisation to give up the policy of sanctions.

The position of official Minsk was expressed by Belarusian deputy foreign minister Alyaksandr Mikhnevich at the OSCE Ministerial Council, Interfax-West reports.

“The OSCE need to return to its initial mission, namely building the real society of security and cooperation, to overcome the crisis of confidence and the inertia of confrontation. In this regard we emphasised the urgent necessity of unconditional abandoning the policy of sanctions, economic and political pressure among the member states,” Mikhnevich said.

The head of the Belarusian delegation “spoke for the further process of reforms in the OSCE and turned attention to double standards in election observation that are still used by the OSCE.”

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 6 декабря 2012 г.

Filip Kaczmarek: EU to extend sanctions against Lukashenka

Totalitarian regimes understand only decisive measures, only tough and strong steps.

Former political prisoner Alyaksandr Atroshchankau and head of the NGO Assembly Syarhei Matskevich held some meetings in the European Parliament.

Belarusian representatives met with Filip Kaczmarek, the head of the EP Delegation for relations with Belarus, MEP Marek Migalski, MEP Werner Schulz's assistants, experts and human rights activists. Activists of Amnesty International, Libereko and other human rights groups focusing on Belarus as well as head of Office of Belarusian Political Emigration Yury Zhylko participated in the meetings.

Syarhei Matskevich and Alyaksandr Atroshchankau spoke about the situation of political prisoners in the country and urged the EU to put more efforts to release them.

“Pressure on political prisoners grows every days. People are being tortured, kept incommunicado in horrible conditions. They cannot receive necessary medicines and clothes. We can say about the threat to the life of Mikalai Statkevich, Zmitser Dashkevich and Mikalai Dzyadok. All means, first of all economic sanctions, are needed to save and release them,” Alyaksandr Atroshchankau said.

Filip Kaczmarek, the head of the EP Delegation for relations with Belarus, said the EU began to understand that its current policy in relation to Belarus was ineffective and that more serious and decisive steps were needed.
“No serious contacts with Belarus are possible unless the situation of political prisoners is solved. The sanctions will be extended if they are not freed. Totalitarian regimes understand only decisive measures, only tough and strong steps. Soft measures don't work. If the European Union wants to have a decent role in the world politics, it should use not only soft policy, but also tougher measures,” Filip Kaczmarek said.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

среда, 5 декабря 2012 г.

UN considers Andrei Sannikau’s appeal

In the UN Human Rights Committee they are considering the Belarus presidential candidate’s complaint on violation of his rights.

Andrei Sannikau sent the appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee in several months after his release from prison in July 2012. Today it became known that the appeal is being taken into consideration.

“It is the matter of violation of my rights during the arrest, prison detention, investigation and trial. Tortures were used against me. All my rights were violated for political reasons: as a civil person and as a presidential candidate. In the appeal each violation of the acrticle of the optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is being analyzed in detail.

In this document I do not only speak about the violation of my rights, but the violation of the rights of the citizens of Belarus for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of peaceful protest and freedom of choice.

This is a necessary measure in order to acknowledge the violation of the international law on the part of Belarusian authorities. This would mean my full rehabilitation even according to the Belarusian laws as in Belarus’ Constitution the primacy of the international law is stated. According to the international obligations the authorities of every country that have signed the Protocol have to follow the decisions take on such appeals. It is worth noting that Belarus has ratified the Protocol in 1992. And it is not important if they will or will not follow the decision of the Human Rights Committee. Such a decision will give me a moral and legal right to put forward accusations against the Belarusian authorities”, - Sannikau told
The leader of the European Belarus civic campaign, 2010 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikau was arrested on 19 December 2010 on charges of organizing the protest against the falsification of the presidential elections’ results. He was sentenced to five years in prison. In prison he underwent tortures and humiliation. He was released in 1.5 years. He had to leave Belarus as the authorities threatened him with a repeated arrest. He received a political asylum in Great Britain.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

вторник, 4 декабря 2012 г.

Nationalisation? Golden share to be introduced for private JSCs

Belarus plans to introduce an institute of authorised representatives of the state in joint-stock companies without state's share.

The State Committee for Property (SCP) prepared a draft decree on possessory supervision in joint-stock companies, including those without state's share, Interfax-West news agency learnt from the SCP press service.

The draft decree gives the state the right to appoint its authorised representatives to joint-stock companies without state's share. “An authorised representative will protect the rights of minor shareholders, our citizens,” a SCP representative said. He explained the decree would affect the joint-stock companies created on the basis of state-owned companies in the process of privatisation.

The draft decree will be introduced to the government.

The SCP declines to comment on the duties and power of “authorised representatives”. In particular, the SCP doesn't comment on the possibility that state's authorised representatives will be able to influence decisions of JSC executive bodies.

Belarus used to have a similar institute of state's authorised representatives as a tool of practical implementation of the golden share rule – the right of the state to control business entities, including those without state's shares at the time of taking this decision. The golden share rule was introduced in Belarus in 1997 and cancelled in March 2008 on ruler's decree. The authorities noted the cancellation of the golden share rule would create favourable conditions for attracting direct foreign investments in the real sector of Belarus's economy, raise the country's rating on the international level and protect the rights of investors in the securities market.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

понедельник, 3 декабря 2012 г.

Torture in police department: Threats of killing to get confession

The police department of Minsk's Leninski district again found itself in the middle of a torture scandal.

Pavel Plaksa again reported about using torture against him to make him confess. No one was punished after inquiries were carried out over his complaint. Like in the story of Vasily Sarochyk, policemen used standard tortures: stress positions, batons and putting a plastic bag over arrested man's head. Pavel's relatives didn't know where he was.

Pavel denied his evidence and demanded to carry out medical examination at the first opportunity. Doctors confirmed some days later he had injuries, which he had received in the Leninski district police department. Pavel Plaksa had 25 x 30 cm bruises on his body. He couldn't move his arms, which became blue due to tight handcuffs.

No inquiries gave answers to the following questions:

Pavel was not in the Leninski district police department from 11:15 a.m. 31.05.2012 to 7:00 a.m. 01.06.2012. It is reported that investigative procedures lasted for 7 hours in this period of time.

He was not in the Leninski district police department from 1:00 a.m. To 9:15 a.m. 02.06.2012. It was reported that investigative procedures lasted for 1.5 hours.

He was taken from a detention facility to the Leninski district police department, where he spent five hours from 12 noon to 5:00 p.m. 04.06.2012. No investigative procedures were carried out. Where was the arrested man for a total of 12 hours? What was he doing for that time? What wasn't mentioned in police reports? Why do officers of the Leninski district police department refuse to explain their actions?

The detainee claims policemen wanted him to confess to the offence he hadn't committed and threatened to kill him if he refused to do so.

It became clear why the investigators were so cruel after a court received evidence of the crimes – absence of fingerprints and other signs of presence of the “offender” on the scenes of crime, the fact that he didn't have stolen items, absence of eyewitnesses and phone conversations and so on. Witnesses in investigative procedures were … relatives of the investigators.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

воскресенье, 2 декабря 2012 г.

Serfdom is back: It will be forbidden to quit

The workers of the wood processing enterprises undergoing modernization will be forbideen to quit their jobs.

“Prepare a decree: until the modernization and reconstructions or these enterprises is over dismissal of the workers is forbidden. A worker cannot quit an enterprise without a manager’s decision”, - Aliaksandr Lukashenka said on Friday when visiting the public corporation Barysaudreu, Interfax reports.

“If they let him go – he can go, if not – must stay and work. For violations they must send workers to compulsive works. If one quits – he or she is sent to compulsive works back here. Or we risk getting into a situation when they will start walking around Barysau and Minsk with pitchforks and stab each other”, - the president said. “Instead of launching the manufacturing and receive a thousand dollars in 2015”, - he added.

“That is why we must forbid any resignations starting from tomorrow, 1 December”, - Lukashenka demanded.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

суббота, 1 декабря 2012 г.

Stefan Fule: It is time for Belarus to release the political prisoners

The European Commissioner opened the IV Civil Society forum of the Eastern Partnership.

Stefan Fule paid a lot of attention to the events, that are taking place in the framework of the Eastern Partnership program.

Also the European Commissioner told about the situation in each of the six participating states.

As for Belarus, the European official called unacceptable for the European Union the situation when there are political prisoners in custody in the country and when there are no visible moves towards the country’s democratization on the part of the Belarusian government.

At the same time the European Commissioner mentioned that Belarus remains a participant of the Eastern Partnership and Belarusian civil society has an opportunity to participate in Eastern Partnership’s programs.

There are fourteen political prisoners in Belarus today. Those who remain imprisoned are a presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, the leader of Young Front Dzmitry Dashkevich, an entrepreneur Mikalai Autukhovich, human rights activist Ales Bialiatski and ten other opposition activists.

International community and human rights organizations demand the release of Belarusian prisoners of conscience. The European Union and the USA have introduced visa bans and economic sanctions against the dictator’s accomplices – officials and businessmen, involved in repressions and financial support of the regime, in order to achieve the release of the remaining fourteen political prisoners.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 30 ноября 2012 г.

Serfdom is back: It will be forbidden to quit

The workers of the wood processing enterprises undergoing modernization will be forbideen to quit their jobs.

“Prepare a decree: until the modernization and reconstructions or these enterprises is over dismissal of the workers is forbidden. A worker cannot quit an enterprise without a manager’s decision”, - Aliaksandr Lukashenka said on Friday when visiting the public corporation Barysaudreu, Interfax reports.

“If they let him go – he can go, if not – must stay and work. For violations they must send workers to compulsive works. If one quits – he or she is sent to compulsive works back here. Or we risk getting into a situation when they will start walking around Barysau and Minsk with pitchforks and stab each other”, - the president said. “Instead of launching the manufacturing and receive a thousand dollars in 2015”, - he added.

“That is why we must forbid any resignations starting from tomorrow, 1 December”, - Lukashenka demanded.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 29 ноября 2012 г.

Andrei Haidukou's whereabouts unknown

The mother of the activist accused of treason hopes she will be informed about his whereabouts in the nearest time.

“I don't know if my son is in Vitebsk or not. I think he will be here this week or on Monday,” Volha Haidukova, the mother of arrested deputy head of the Union of Young Intellectuals, said to charter97.org.

According to Volha Haidukova, she is going to hire another lawyer in connection with the transfer of her son to Vitebsk:

“There are some changes. Why did they decide to move him to Vitebsk? We think some nuances appeared. I was going to meet with a lawyer and human rights activists, including Aleh Vouchak. Andrei will be transferred to Vitebsk. I don't know if it will be comfortable for the lawyer to visit Vitebsk. It could be more reasonable to find another lawyer here.”

We remind that Andrei Haidukou was detained in Vitebsk 20 days ago. The 23-year-old worker of Naftan plant in Navapolatsk is charged with spying.

Officially, the guy was detained as he was “installing a dead drop with the information interesting for foreign secret services”. Many find the accusation absurd. European Belarus civil campaign released a statement saying the activist was detained for distributing Charter'97 newspaper. Human rights activists link the prosecution of Haidukou to his pro-opposition views and say it is an attempt to intimidate young activists.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

среда, 28 ноября 2012 г.

Dictator may be left without EurAsEc loan

Belarus failed to fulfil all requirements of the stabilisation loan programme.

The Anticrisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) plans to consider the possibility of granting Belarus another tranche of the loan at a meeting on December 7, Russian Minister for Finance Anton Siluanov said to journalists.

“We are going to Minsk on December 7 to attend a meeting of the Anticrisis Fund. We will discuss this question there,” he said answering a question about plans to give another tranche.

The minister stressed that today, “as far as we know, Belarus does not fulfil all requirements of the programme”.

He noted that the process of implementing the requirements should be discussed in details to take a necessary decision.

The Belarusian authorities expect the fourth tranche of the stabilisation loan of the EurAsEC Anticrisis Fund worth $440 million. Belarusian National Bank Chief Nadzezhda Yermakova said recently the issue on allocation of another tranche of the stabilisation loan to Belarus moved to a political sphere taking into account that Minsk failed to implement its obligations to raise $2.5bn from privatisation this year.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

вторник, 27 ноября 2012 г.

Passport control for Internet use will be replaced by video surveillance

A resolution will be adopted by the end of the year allowing the owner of internet-cafes to identify users by the means of videotaping.

The head of the telecommunications department of the Ministry of Communication and Informatization Pavel Petrulevich told a BelTA reporter about that. Mr Petrulevich took part in a joint Huawei and Beltelecom conference IP Gala Belarus 2012 today.

A draft resolution was sent to the Council of Ministers for consideration. At the moment separate regulations of the document are being specified. It is expected that the government will adopt the resolution shortly.

Currently according to the decree No 60 (part 2, point 6) the owners of the points of collective internet access and other institutions are obliged to identify the internet users against an ID and store the information about the services provided. According to the resolutions by the Council of Ministers, identification documents must be presented for users’ identification.

However, soon internet-cafes and computer clubs will be able to use less burdensome means for that purpose. An exact identification means will be defined by an administrator of a collective internet access point or an authorized person.

When providing the services of data transmission and telematics in a computer club or an internet-café, an administrator or an authorized person must ensure that the users’ personal data are registered and stored. As well as must be stored the starting and ending time of a session and the data from an electronic journal where all the identification data about users’ devices are included etc.

Internet-cafes and computer clubs are obliged to store the information for a year, including the one registered on photo and video or in another program-technical way.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

понедельник, 26 ноября 2012 г.

Russia declares Belarusian oppositionists wanted

A European Belarus’ activist ended up in a Russia’s federal wanted list after 19 December 2010.

Сharter97.org Maksim Sergiets’ name on the vroziske.net web-site, where there are federal lists of the wanted people. The stated reason for inclusion in the list is “hid from the agencies of the Ministry of Interior”. The measure of restraint is custody. The department that declared the person wanted is stated as the Minsk City Police Department and the Minsk Moscow district’s police department.

We would remind that Maksim Sergiets is an activist of the European Belarus civic campaign. During the presidential elections 2010 he participated in the electoral campaign of Andrei Sannikau. He had to escape the country in December 2010 after the crackdown on the protest against the rigged elections.

Police was looking for him for participating in the protest action on 19 December 2010: policemen searched the apartments of his mother and grandmother and confiscated the computer. It is notable that they keep looking for Maksim Sergiets in Belarus up until now: the last time policemen came to his house was in October 2012.

Currently Maksim Sergiets has received a political asylum in Poland.

In the federal wanted list we also found the name of the former presidential candidate Ales Michalevic, who also had to escape Belarus after the events of 2010.

The presence of Belarusian oppositionists in Russian federal wanted lists causes perplexity. Does it turn out that Russia is ready to extradite Belarusian democrats to the regime of Lukashenka?

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

суббота, 24 ноября 2012 г.

Guardian about Andrei Sannikov

Leader of 'European Belarus' gives interview Britain's leading newspaper.

In 2010, the Belarussian opposition leader Andrei Sannikov took part in the country's presidential election. He was under no illusions he might "win".

Since taking power in 1994, the country's hardline president, Alexander Lukashenko, had maintained an iron grip on power. But Sannikov was unprepared for the regime's sudden, violent crackdown, the worst in 20 years.

On the evening of the vote, Sannikov and nearly 30,000 opposition supporters rallied in Minsk's freezing central square. His recollection of what happened next is hazy.

Riot police grabbed Sannikov, pushed him to the ground and then beat him savagely. "I lost consciousness," he says, speaking in his first newspaper interview since fleeing Belarus. "My wife and friend covered me with their bodies. They saved my life."

When he came round, Sannikov couldn't walk. A secret police officer had smashed his knees with a metal shield, he says – his leg was in agony. Friends helped him stagger into a journalist's car.

On the way to hospital police officers stopped his vehicle and dragged him out. They began beating him again. "I heard my wife screaming," he says. His arrest followed a pre-planned "invasion" of parliament by government provocateurs.

The police took him to the KGB's notorious Minsk prison, known by locals as the Americana (after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russiarebranded its domestic spy agency as the FSB – Lukashenko kept the old name). Here, guards refused him medical treatment. He was locked in a cell, still wearing his candidate's ID badge. Friends, family and the international community feared the worst; it was weeks before news emerged he was alive.

Sannikov, a former diplomat, is Belarus's most high-profile opposition figure. He spent the next 16 months in jail. In May 2011, he received a five-year prison sentence for "inciting mass disorder". He and other inmates were kept in humiliating conditions, forced to strip naked for regular searches.

At one point the regime encouraged him to kill himself. It left him in an isolation cell with a razor blade and a piece of cord.

Sannikov was released in April. In August Lukashenko – Europe's last dictator in the words of former US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice – suggested Sannikov would soon be rearrested. Reluctantly, he sought political asylum in Britain.

Sannikov's wife, Iryna Khalip, and their five-year-old son, Dania, remain in Minsk, effectively hostages of the Lukashenko regime.

Speaking from London, his new home, Sannikov says Belarus's reputation as Europe's most repressive state is deserved. "Lukashenko is a dictator. He openly calls himself that. Sometimes he tries to be coquettish and says he isn't, but he's admitted it several times. I think it's true," he says. Like other dictators, the president has a ruthless "animal instinct" for power, he adds.

In exile, Sannikov is divided from Khalip, a well-known journalist with the Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta. She too was jailed during the December 2010 demonstration; the authorities threatened to take her son into care. She then spent months under KGB house arrest. Two agents lived in her flat; she was forbidden from using the phone, emailing, or going near the window.

Last month, Lukashenko "promised" to free her during a meeting with the newspaper proprietor Evegeny Lebedev, who requested her release. Despite this, she is forbidden to leave Minsk, join her husband or work as a journalist.

Sannikov describes Belarus's system of government as a kolkhozdictatorship (kolkhoz is the Russian word for collective farm; previously Lukashenko was a farm manager and KGB border guard). The clampdown that followed the presidential election marked the victory of the siloviki, hardliners led by Viktor, one of Lukashenko's sons.

"The system has no ideology. It denies national values such as history, culture and language. It's based only on the necessity to keep power," Sannikov says.

Aged 58, Sannikov grew up in Minsk. He studied English and joined the Soviet foreign service; after Belarus's independence in 1991, he served as a diplomat in the US and Switzerland. In 1995 he became Belarus's deputy foreign minister. He resigned in protest at Lukashenko's policies and co-founded a pro-democracy group, Charter 1997. He was one of several presidential candidates arrested by Lukashenko after the 2010 poll; officially he came second.

During nearly two decades in power Lukashenko has performed an east-west foreign policy balancing act, playing off Brussels against Moscow. After the 2010 crackdown the EU reimposed travel bans on Lukashenko and 150 officials. But according to Sannikov, the democratic world is too "complacent" about Belarus. The post-Soviet state isn't only domestically repressive, he says, but sells weapons to rogue governments and entities around the world.

"Belarus poses a threat to international security. Dictators are very good at consolidating themselves. They form a club," he argues.

This club, Sannikov suggests, is getting larger. The opposition leader says he is "pessimistic" about Belarus's neighbour Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has launched his own crackdown on civil society since returning to the Kremlin in May.

"Russia is heading the way of Belarus," he notes. Ukraine, and other post-Soviet states such as Georgia, are going in the same backward direction, he believes.

Sannikov heard about last year's uprisings in the Middle East from his prison cell. He recalls: "When I heard about the Arab Spring I had an almost physical feeling." "We had prepared everything in Belarus. But someone above decided to strike in another place. It wasn't fair on Belarus," he says wryly. He rejects the idea that Lukashenko, self-styled father of the nation, enjoys mass popular support. Belarus's severe economic crisis means that living standards are falling, despite bail-outs from Russia.

"The prevailing majority in Belarus would welcome changes," he says.

For the moment, Lukashenko survives, through a mixture of terror, the KGB, and old-fashioned Soviet populism. While in jail, the head of Belarus's KGB, Vadim Zaitsev, interrogated him. "It would be funny were it not so tragic. They don't change, these people. They lie to you. They use false information, false accusations," Sannikov said, recalling how Zaitsev accused him of consorting with foreign "spies" and being a puppet of the west.

Belarus is a small, historically luckless country of 9.5 million. Outsiders often see it as a sort of Soviet Union theme park, synonymous with gloomy, totalitarian rule. Living conditions have collapsed, with massive inflation and a currency in freefall. Despite this, Sannikov says, Belarus has a lot to offer. It has a thriving cultural scene, with first-class ballet and music, as well as lakes, forests and great natural beauty. He is convinced that given a chance a post-Lukashenko Belarus could rejoin the western mainstream, and become a thriving European state.

Sannikov says he is convinced Lukashenko's regime is "doomed".

"I see no future for it," he says. He won't predict when it will fall, but adds: "It's only a matter of time."

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

пятница, 23 ноября 2012 г.

Names of real terrorists still unknown

The United Nations admitted that the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was violated in the case of Uladzslau Kavalyou.

The document received from the UN Human Rights Committee enlists 7 errors made during the investigation, court proceedings and execution of the death penalty. The document reads that Uladzislau Kavalyou's right to life was violated, Radio Svabdoa reports.

Lyubou Kavalyova, Uladzislau's mother, told journalists that the document gave her the right to say the names of criminals guilty in the Minsk metro bombing had not been called. “The authorities don't try to look for actual perpetrators of the awful terrorist attack,” she said.

Lawyer Raman Kislyak says about the violations found by international experts:

“Firstly, physical force and unacceptable methods were used against Uladzislau Kavalyou. He was forced to testify against himself. He said about it during the trial. It is a violation of both the prohibition on torture and cruel treatment and the prohibition on forcing people to testify against themselves.”

The UN experts report about other violations. For example, they found it strange that most of prosecutor's motions were granted by the judge, while most motions by defence were rejected. The experts think it casts doubts on independence and impartiality of judges.

Lyubou Kavalyova, Uladzislau's mother, told journalists that the document gave her the right to say the names of criminals guilty in the Minsk metro bombing had not been called. “The authorities don't try to look for actual perpetrators of the awful terrorist attack,” she said.

“We have gathered here to tell people about the existing system and the 'justice' allowing to declare people guilty, about investigative and court procedures and terrible sentences. Unfortunately, the death penalty was executed. Even this decision of international experts cannot return my son to me. But I want to rehabilitate him in the public eyes,” Lyubou Kavalyova says.

Human rights activist Lyudmila Hraznova, who monitored the Minsk bombing case, told Radio Svaboda she had never regarded the young men from Vitebsk as terrorists. The decision of the UN Human Rights Committee only confirms her confidence:

“Such documents are thoroughly examined by highly experienced professionals. Of course, they made right conclusions. The UN decision is another convincing argument that the court was unbiased and unfair and the results of judicial proceedings are not real. Let the public see it and make conclusions.”

As for the second man executed in the case, Dzmitry Kanavalau, his family didn't file complaints to the UN, so only the case of Uladzislau Kavalyou was considered.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

четверг, 22 ноября 2012 г.

Pavel Syarhei – new political prisoner

Young Front activist Pavel Syarhei has been sent to Hrodna for compulsory military service.

The military enlistment commission found him fit for military service, though Pavel wanted to do alternative civilian service.

The conscript referred to his religious beliefs, disgust to military uniform with Soviet symbols and views that can be defined as pacifism,” ags.by reports.

The court of the Maladzechna district dismissed Pavel's complaint. The activist appealed against the decision to the Minsk region court, but the court's ruling was upheld.

Pavel was again summoned to the military enlistment office in autumn. Though a psychotherapist found him unfit for military service, the commission decided he must serve in the army. The Young Front activist is sure he was called up on political motives.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau


среда, 21 ноября 2012 г.

Tortures in Minsk police department: Like Gestapo

A car parking guard was tortured in Minsk Lenin district’s police department for six hours.

The policemen used sticks and handcuffs for better effectiveness of investigative activities, and when the “criminal” went unconscious, they poured cold water on him, a human rights organization Platforma reports.

What seems incredible at first sight was a real story that happened on 14 November 2012 to Vasili Sarochyk, a guard of the car parking Romen in Malinina street in Minsk.

As the pensioner told human rights activists, two policemen, one of them in mufti, came to the parking guard’s post where he works. Without showing any documents they ordered Vasili Sarochyk to pick up his stuff and follow them to the Lenin Police department. The policemen did not explain what exactly the reasons for the detention were, but only allowed the guard to call the parking’s owner, when the guard told that he could not leave the parking unattended.

Sarochyk spent around an hour in the room of the Lenin police department’s call center. Then a young woman in mufti came after him and invited him to follow her into the room 235 on the fourth floor of the building. As it became known later the young woman in mufti was Bagdanouskaya Zh.P., the Lenin police department’s police agent, who in the course of the questioning also introduced herself as an “owner of the Svelta marketplace”, which is apparently under protection of the Lenin police department according to the old traditions from the 1990-ies.

In the room Bagdanouskaya Zh.P. unexpectedly handcuffed Vasili with his hand behind his back and started beating the old man up, demanding to confess that he stole the tombstones that were stored at the parking. The guard, who did not understand anything, tried to explain that he had no idea of what she was talking about, which made the woman angrier and she started to severely kick the man at the head and body.

From time to time other police department’s officials joined the beating; so far it has not brought not succeeded trying to identify them. Having not received the information that they were interested in, the investigators applied the so-called swallow to the pensioner, accompanying the torturing with swearing and threats of murder.

In such a position Sarochyk spent not less than three hours being constantly beaten up. All that time the sadists had been trying to persuade him that he was a thief and demanded to confess where he put the stolen granite for tombstones and monuments, which belonged to an entrepreneur Bezruchonak A.V. , According to the investigators, apart from granite, Vasili stole fuel and accumulators from cars and periodically robbed stalls at the Svelta marketplace. The pensioner could not agree that he was a thief with such a broad profile that is why he kept denying everything receiving kick at his head and body for that.

After an hour break (the torturers apparently took a rest and had a lunch), which Vasili Sarochyk spent in a cell without handcuffs, the beatings resumed with sticks this time. When the man fell unconscious, they would bring him back to consciousness by pouring cold water on him…

Having submitted an appeal to the prosecutor’s office of Minsk’s Lenin district and having received a referral for a medical examination, Vasili managed to register the beatings and addressed Platforma for help.

Because of that fact Platforma sent a message to the Prosecutor General’s office, the Ministry f Interior and the Investigatory Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

The inspection will be held by the Lenin district’s department of the Investigatory Committee.

“The person appealed to the prosecutor’s office, the appeal was registered, an decision for him to take a forensic medical examination was taken. According to the Criminal Code, the documents for an inspection were send to the Lenin district’s department of the Investigatory Committee”, - senior assistant to Minsk’s prosecutor Siargei Balashau told Interfax on Tuesday.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau