Dissidents will be classified as terrorists?

The concept of the fight against terrorism adopted by Belarus government.

The main terrorism trends and internal and external sources of the menace are described in it.

According to the concept, the geographical position of Belarus is the main external source of the terroristic threat. Groupings and criminal organizations consider Belarus as “a transit corridor”. The increasing number of migrants coming or passing Belarus is also a threat because there may be terrorists among them.

«Objects posing a potential threat to the environment» may also be a source of terrorism, the document says.

Internal sources of the terrorism threat are: «distribution of the terroristic ideology, separatism, national, racial and religious hostility, illegal activities of organizations, groups and people promoting the mentioned ideology and existence of destructive and pseudo-religious cults».

The government also considers «the weakening of patriotism and loss of traditional moral values among the youth due to the lack of development of the civil society, destructive information influence and social segregation trends» a potential threat.

A former counsel and current human rights activist Pavel Sapelka commented on the resolution for the charter97.org web-site.

«There is a trend in Belarus, when the aspiration to establish control over civil society de-facto meets the lack of certain legal norms or methods. In this case they have to establish some legal or pseudo-legal foundation for the «fifth column, etc» discourse. It seems to me, that due to that the government is trying to solve the issue exactly in this way: by adopting resolutions and other regulatory enactments, which broaden or make vague these or those concepts», - the lawyer highlighted.

The human rights activist noted, that a terrorist in the traditional perception is a «bearded or beardless man with a machine gun and explosives».

«But when they start manipulating these notions, then they add to that also the activities, which by definition cannot cause harm to citizens’ interests, protected by the law. Thus, these or those civil society institutes, known for their intolerance to tyranny, can be rated as terroristic or organizations, posing a potential threat. Manipulations with this document will also allow for proclaiming these or those political forces terroristic or posing a potential terroristic threat», - Pavel Sapelka is convinced.

We would remind that in June 2012 the House of Representatives adopted the amendments to the law «On fight against terrorism». They have changed the notion of terrorism, which is now explained not as an action, but a phenomenon:

«Terrorism – is a socio-political phenomenon, which includes ideology and the practice of using violence or the threat of violence for the purpose of influencing authorities in their decisions or preventing political or other public activities, the violation of public security, the intimidation of the population, the provocation of international conflicts, wars, the undermining of the constitutional order and the destabilization of the state’s domestic affairs».

The new wording is applied towards the whole scope of socio-political activities. Holding a strike or a street manifestation falls into the terrorism category according to it, because the authorities may interpret any unauthorized action as a «threat of violent actions».

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Andrei Sannikov: Open Europe for Belarusian citizens

Do not cooperate with the dictator and do not try to educate him.

The leader of the European Belarus civic campaign and 2010 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov stated that in an interview to Belsat TV channel.

- Can we expect that after Iryna Khalip was freed from serving her term, they would release MIkalaj Statkievich and other political prisoners?

- I do not discuss or comment on that. The lives of political prisoners is not a subject for a totalizator that media creates from time to time. I know how painfully the reaction to this behind the bars.

- The European Union allegedly has taken a tough position on that issue, however has not stopped the economic cooperation with the regime completely. Is it a sign that Brussels has completely gave Belarus to the Moscow’s sphere of influence?

- I wouldn't say that: there is the Eastern Partnership. I am quite skeptical as to what happens in the framework of this program, but it can be regarded as an intention of the European Union to pay attention to our countries. So one cannot say that Belarus was given up to Moscow. This actually was happening at the start of our independence, when the United States and Europe were guided by the principle «Russia first», and then all the rest. It is another thing that the European Union has not yet found instruments to efficiently oppose the advance of dictatorship in the large region of the former USSR. It is exactly this advance that Kremlin supports today.

- What was the first feeling, when Lukashenka was elected in 1994?

- The feeling was that it would mean a disaster for the country. Although, a friend of mine was in Lukashenka’s team and he assured me that everything would be under control: “Do not worry: we will rule, not him”. For what I know this is what Viktar Hanchar counted on too.

- When was the most convenient moment to restrain Lukashenka and push Belarus’ history into a completely different direction? You repeatedly said that the West had lost it.

- The year of 1996. The European Union has frozen the relations with Belarus and that was it. They should have applied a more active policy. There already were political prisoners – Khadyka and Siuchyk. What could have been done? The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Belarus was signed, and it was signed by Lukashenka. This was an instrument to influence the situation in Belarus. More serious observation of the elections should have been demanded. It was clear that there would be falsifications, since two referenda had already took place with violations. The Supreme Council was legitimate. It was recognized – it was a unique fact – by the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, which not only the European Union is a part of, but Russia too. They could have acted using its instruments.

Then there was the year of 1999, a tragic year in our history. A tougher Europe’s reaction could have been in appropriate after that. But it was only in 2004, when the report on the disappeared came out…

There were no reasons for starting the procedure of recognizing Lukashenka’s “parliament” after the 2000 elections. I know that boycott took place then. I even remember the Belarusian TV saying that in the regions – Homiel, Viciebsk – the elections were not valid. Then in the morning everything changed, and the newscasters started saying that the elections were valid.

- During the 2010 electoral campaign you repeatedly said that Belarus’ priority along with the integration with the European Union should be cooperation with Russia. Since then Moscow has rapidly moved further into authoritarianism. How are you going to build relations with Putin?

- Before the 2010 elections signals came from the president of Russia, it was Dmitry Medvedev at the moment, as to the strategy and modernization policy. They were not very distinct, but in several of his speeches he mentioned general modernization – not only economic, not only technological, but also political. This was what we could speak with Russians about, since modernization meant the West and Europe. I am not naïve, I did not think it would become Russia’s strategic line, but there were certain hopes.

One should not expect any voluntary democratization in Russia in the nearest future. But we will have to build the relations. Even today it is necessary to highlight what is already evident for everyone, very simple things: Belarus needs changes, and for you Lukashenka is as unpredictable partner as he is for the European Union, to put it simpler – he is not a partner at all. No agreements work with him.

- Why Kremlin did not react in a different way during the 2010 elections and the dramatic events that followed?

- Russia does not have a policy towards Belarus, which looks into the future. One could not hope that Moscow would take the opposition’s side. Anyway we created certain opportunities for some talks to start. But Kremlin used this opportunities to increase the pressure on Lukashenka, to push him into signing the agreements on trade and economic issues and end up in the situation in which they had been before: the dictator would not comply with anything.

I believe, there was a moment, one of the most critical, there was a favorable situation for something to change in Belarus, - when we were in prison. Let’s remember, that Russia actually did not have any relations with Lukashenka for eight months, did not provide any loans. Had Europe taken a more active position, the situation could have changed. There was a political crisis in Belarus, it was a difficult situation for the regime. Europe could have put forward the question of Lukashenka’s legitimacy in a tougher way. Then Russian would have seen the situation differently. But the European Union failed to take the respective decision.

- Can Russian prepare a new candidate for the president of Belarus?

- Russian does not need a democratic leader in Belarus. Let’s remember what Russian did when Shushkievich was dismissed. Nothing. Then they had a democrat Eltsin. I even know that he did that on purpose, did not support Shushkevich, because there is a stereotype in Russia that whoever comes to power in Belarus would immediately go West, join NATO and would threaten Russia. This is last century’s logic, Soviet logic.

- May be for European businessmen, who are close to politicians, it is more convenient to work with the Belarusian regime, than with a democratic Belarus?

- There are such people, but they are not in majority. The major part of businessmen simply do not go to Belarus. I speak with European entrepreneurs, and the interest in Belarus is very high. But large business does not risk entering Belarus’ market. Another thing is the business, which is ready to break the laws. A dictatorship is quick money. But we see that these scandals break out with offshores, banks and business hijacking. One should expect trials of businessmen, who worked in Belarus and Russia, violating the laws of their own countries.

Negative tendencies in stock markets were observed after the sentence passed on Navalny. This is an indicator that an attack on democracy greatly influences trade and economic relations. Russia is more connected with the West, more interested in not breaking these relations. The West has more influence on Russia. So far, unfortunately, it does not use it, ignores the moments, when not only statements should be made, but measures taken.

At the same time I am sure that first of all the Belarusian issues should be solved, then one can hope for a sooner resolution of the situation in Russia.

- Should be solved how?

- Open Europe for the citizens of Belarus, relieve the people from the obligation to pay so much for visas! Do not cooperate with the dictator and do not try to educate him. He has been proving it impossible for 19 years. The sanctions against business brought their results, due to them me and my friend Dzmitry Bandarenka were released. Russian business started looking at our situation differently: why would I seize Belarusian enterprises if they might end up sanctioned?

- How will Europe be able to issue such a number of visas? The Poles already complain that the Belarusian government does not allow them to increase the number of consuls.

- Poland is not the only European country with an embassy in Belarus. If Europe makes such a decision, all the embassies will follow it. Center for issuing Schengen visas can even be created.

- While being behind the bars, did you think of what you had done wrong at the Square? Could the situation have been saved in order to escape such a number of victims?

- I think that the year of 2010 is the most successful electoral campaign of the opposition exactly for the reason that there were several candidates. We managed to demonstrate that Lukashenka could by no means get 50% in the first round. As to planning… If we return to 2001 and 2006, we know there were planning attempts, but the teams of the single candidates were well controlled by special services.

In 2010 there also were those, who deliberately worked for KGB, but this almost did not create obstacles for the campaign. Then during the interrogations I understood that they did not know what to expect. We put the accent on demonstrating people’s desire to support an alternative candidate. This was a success already at the signature collection stage. I was disappointed that the majority of Europeans did not count on the opposition’s challenging the dictator so strongly. They thought, that Lukashenka would not use force, and were ready to recognize him. I also hoped for international observers, who in private conversations promised to cover more polling stations at the counting stage. Lukashenka did not win at any of those, where they could observe.

- What if there had been a second round?

- That is it, the current regime would have no longer been there.

- Even if Lukashenka had gotten 45% and you – 43%?

- It is impossible, it is a law. When people see that opposition, an alternative is winning – that is it. It was the same with Lukashenka in 1994, by the way. He perfectly knows it. That is why it was obvious that he would not allow for a second round to happen.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Franak Viachorka: Hunger strike is the most effective form of protest in army

Commanders will do their best to prevent information about protests of soldiers to leak outside the military unit.

Journalist and former political soldier Franak Viachorka spoke to charter97.org about hungry strike of soldiers in military union 44540.

“There was a conflict when I was serving my kitchen duty in the army. I didn't know what happened. Soldiers declared a hungry strike and refused to eat. They protested against a ban to take leaves on weekends. I began to ask soldiers about it, and commanders called the initiators to talk to them. All were scared. I was asked not to write about it,” the young activist says.

He stressed that a hunger strike in the army is the only extreme form of protest that soldiers can have.

“Absence without leave is punished with transferring to a disciplinary battalion, initiating a criminal case and imprisonment. You cannot refuse to fulfil your duties, because you will be sent to a military detention facility or made to work by means of 'collective pressure'. A hunger strike is the most effective way to influence the situation. Commanders do their best to prevent information about such cases to leak outside the military unit. The army has to create an illusion that soldiers fulfil their duties obediently,” the journalist added.

The former political soldier thinks a similar situation took place in the military unit near Lapichy.

“When soldiers are not united, commanders increase pressure on hungry strike initiators. A hungry strike has sense only if all soldiers, both old and newly arrived, want it. As for reasons for protests, they can be various. Firstly, humiliating treatment from commanders. Secondly, enforced work that soldiers mustn't do or work at night. Thirdly, depriving soldiers of free time in the evening or depriving them of leaves. Other reasons are also possible,” Franak Viachorka says.

Soldiers of military unit 44540 near Lapichy declared a hunger strike due to unfair treatment from commanders.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Young Front member sent to guardhouse for 7 days

Mihas Muski has been accused of disobedience in the army.

Muski’s colleagues found it out when they phoned the garrison prison.

Mihas Muski was taken to Minsk from Lapichy by car at 9 a.m. on July 25. The Young Front member was taken to the army from jail. He refused to take oath.

The other soldiers were told that Muski is accused of organizing the hunger-strike and distributing information about it on the Internet. They also said that a criminal case would be opened. A commission from the Ministry of Defence arrived at their military unit after information about a hunger-strike near Asipovichy had appeared on the Internet, unofficial sources report.

Information about a hunger-strike in the military unit near Asipovichy appeared a few days ago. Soldiers were protesting against acts of harassment among servicemen. The information was not confirmed officially. However, Muski’s punishment may indirectly prove it.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Mikalai Statkevich: Political prisoners receive rape threats

Details of Mikalai Statkevich letter confiscated by a prosecutor's office have appeared.

Charter97.org received this information from sources in the Mahilou prison, where the political prisoners serves his term.

Mikalai Statkevich wrote in a letter about conditions in the Shklou correctional colony. Many of the opposition activists convicted for the rally against the rigged presidential election on December 19, 2010, were thrown into the Shklou colony.

He wrote that four political prisoners received rape threats to made them apply for a pardon.

The political prisoner thinks the prison authorities wanted to get rid of the inmates that could tell about corruption in the correctional colony.

Mikalai Statkevich wrote about violations of the law he saw in the colony. In particular, he mentioned that prison officers extorted food inmates received in parcels. The unit chief officer took away sausages, chocolates and cigarettes. Inmates had to “pay” him to have a chance to be released on parole.

Mikalai Statkevich says other correctional colony have similar conditions.

Statkevich's wife Maryna Adamovich said on July 16 that his letter had been confiscated and sent to a prosecutor's office. She noted she didn't know the content of the letter but thinks her husband had things to tell.

Mikalai Statkevich was a presidential candidate in the 2010 election. He was arrested after a protest rally against electoral frauds.

On May 26, 2011, the politician was sentenced to 6 years in a medium security correctional colony by Minsk's Partyzanski district court.

On January 12, 2012, confinement conditions for him were strengthened. He was transferred from penal colony No. 17 in Shklou to prison No. 4 in Mahilou.

Statkevich is often thrown into a punishment cell. He has restrictions relating to parcels and visits of relatives. He often faces provocations on the order of the authorities.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

MEP proposes to open foundation to support Belarusian media

Marek Migalski puts forward an initiative to support the Belarusian independent media.

This information appeared on the politician's website.

The MEP proposes to open a foundation as part of the EU budget for 2014.

The new foundation, Marek Migalski thinks, will be responsible for the direct support to the Belarusian media which spread independent and honest information among Belarusians.

Marek Migalski says that the foundation will allow independent journalists to compete with the pro-governmental media.

“The EU recognised the recent 'election' in Belarus unfair and unfree and voiced their support for the Belarusian opposition several times. It's time for decisive actions. The foundation will be the first momentum for changes in Belarus,” he said.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Iryna Khalip: I do not feel as a free person yet

Any former political prisoner can get behind the bars again.

A journalist Iryna Khalip shared such an opinion in an interview to the charter97.org web-site after today’s trial.

“I do not feel as a free person yet. I do not yet understand how it is possible not to check the time at night, do not understand how it is possible to go, for example, to a theater or concert in the evening and know that even if you are back later than 10 p.m., nothing bad will happen. I do not yet understand how I can get on a train or a place and go somewhere without asking someone for permission. De-facto, I was under house arrest all the time like Uladzimir Niakliajeu. If we add the five-month jail term, then we get quite a long term. I would also like to say that a person cannot be free even if the person is not currently under arrest or criminal persecution Remember how people met Parfiankou and Jaromienak, who came from prison as free people. Now Parfiankou is preparing to go to prison again”, - the journalist noted.

She highlighted that we cannot in fact feel free, because the state machine may introduce any moment.

“Dzmitry Dashkievich will soon be released, because his prison term expires, but they will say that the situation has improved because Dashkievich is released. One must not confuse logic. Now the number of political prisoners is again increasing. That I have not been sent to a colony today does not mean that this will not happen in a month or two or in a year on a new criminal case. This does not mean that Uladzimir Niakliajeu will also be released. I still do not believe in any improvement”, - the former political prisoner says.

She added that she did not hope for anything when she went to the court.

“In these years I have been able to develop such an ability – not to expect anything, not to plan anything. Let it be as it will. So far I have plans for the nearest evening. Together with friends we are going to meet and go to some café and not to check the time”, - Iryna Khalip said.

We would remind that the court of Minsk’s Partizan district decided to free the journalist Iryna Khalip from the criminal punishment as the verdict’s postponement expired.

On 16 May 2011 the wife of a former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was sentenced to two years in prison with a postponement of the punishment for two years.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Deutsche Welle: Changes may happen very fast in Belarus

Just a small reason is enough for radical changes.

This is one of the conclusions made by the participants of the discussion over the situation in the country, that took place in Warsaw, Deutsche Welle reports.

The situation in Belarus and perspectives for a dialogue between Minsk and the EU were discussed by Belarusian and Polish politicians on 15 July at the 10th East European conference “Over the barriers”, organized by the Center for East European Studies of Warsaw University.

The participants of the discussion, which took place in the Polish capital under the title ‘Belarus today: stabilization vs. destabilization’, noted in an interview that the events in the country cannot be treated in isolation from what is happening in other countries, participating in the European Union’s initiative Eastern Partnership.

‘Putinization’ of the post-Soviet space

The leader of the European Belarus civic campaign Andrei Sannikov, who received a political asylum in Great Britain, in the course of the discussion expressed confidence that the negative influence of the Belarusian dictatorship is growing and spreading over the whole region, including Russia. In Sannikov’s opinion, the EU must understand that the authoritarian model is much more attractive for the rulers of post-Soviet states than the democratic one, since it excludes the public control.

In regards to that the head of the Movement for Freedom Aliaksandr Milinkievich pointed at the common trends, defining the development of events in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine and increasingly moving the Eastern Partnership countries from the European Union. Milinkievich called these processes ‘oligarchic privatization of political power - putinization’. The danger, as the Belarusian politician highlighted, lies in the fact that in contrast to Brussels, aspiring for cooperation in the post-Soviet space, the ideological confrontation with the EU is growing.

Belarus follows the same path, the leader of the Movement for Freedom believes. He is convinced that the destabilization of the situation in the country may lead not only to the change of power. This scenario bears a real threat of losing the independence of Belarus, which solely bases on the Russian vector of development, Aliaksandr Milinkievich warned. He added that the stability is perceived as the consolidation of the dictatorship, although ‘Lukashenka is not the whole Belarus, and many problems lie not just in his rule’.

At the same time Andrei Sannikov believes that the main risk of losing the independence comes from ‘the rule of the dictator, who commands the country as he pleases’. Sannikov called democratic forces and democratic changes in Belarus a real guarantee of independence.

“I am not frightened by what will be there after Lukashenka, - the leader of the European Belarus civic campaign claimed. – If changes start, we will find the shortest way for the effective development of the state”.

Small reason for fundamental changes

The head of the Belarusian Analytical Workshop (BAW) in Warsaw, a PhD in sociology Andrej Vardamatski in his turn noted that the stability in Belarus is the ‘experience of holding up to the past, which does not possess of any mechanisms for the change of power and its system’s reform’.

According to Vardamatski, serious grounds are needed for fundamental changes in democratic societies, and in the absence of democracy in Belarus only a small reason is needed for the transition to ‘instability’ and landslide changes according to the Arab Spring’s example.

A Polish publicist, former reporter for Gazeta Wyborcza in Moscow and Kiev, Marcin Wojcechowski agreed with the sociologist’s opinion that changes may come quite fast and unexpectedly. He emphasized that two factors are needed for the change of the regime: real alternative and public discontent. “So far there is no idea of who and how can change the situation, but it is obvious, that the Belarusian system, that have lasted for 19 years, is losing its efficiency”, - Wojcechowski stated.

Andrei Sannikov is convinced of the presence of the second factor – public discontent and readiness of the majority of Belarusians for changes. He sees the reason for that in the Lukashenka regime’s starting an attack on the remaining benefits for citizens and demands for not only loyalty from them, but bigger money, which is ‘being squeezed out of Belarusians’.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Dzima Lukashenka’s big business

The construction of a largest business-center Green City in Minsk is being led by a company belonging to Dzmitry Lukashenka.

TUT.by reports about that. According to the web-site’s information, Dzmitry Lukashenka’s presidential sports club is a cofounder of the EuroStepGroup company, which is the business-center’s builder.

According to the company’s web-site EuroStepGroup’s partners are Russian trading companies EuroTrade and Trade House RB; Eurostep, which deals with cargo transportations in the European part of Russian and Belarus; a construction company Zlatastroy and a Belarusian construction company MAGNUS Group.

EuroStepGroup is headed by a former judge of Minsk city court Viktar Vusik.

The Green City business-center occupies the total area of 83 000 square meters and costs over 110 million dollars. It is located in Kamennaja Horka district at the crossroads of Prytytskaha Street and Kuncaushchyna Street. The construction is scheduled to be finished in the first quarter of 2014.

The construction site already attracted attention due to a fire. The building went on fire on 4 July. Then this construction was called an oligarch Jury Chyzh’s project, because the building was being constructed by the MAGNUS Group company, created on the basis of an affiliate of the Triple Constructions Department and Lithuanian building organizations. Formally the MAGNUS Group and Triple have not been linked together for around two years after the introduction of the EU sanctions.

The presidential sports club is a republican state-public association, created in July 2005 for supporting the fitness and health care movement in the country. In practice the organization only exists for employing Dzmitry Lukashenka, Belarusian ruler’s middle son, under the roof of which he and his companions make business. For example, the management of Belgospishcheprom had to deal with the advertisement of the First Sample Print Shop, belonging to the club.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Leyla Yunus: Criminals in power have offshore billions all over the world

The regimes of Lukashenka and Aliyev are equally corrupted and repressive.

Meanwhile, the West lacks a clear strategy regarding the Belarusian and Azerbaijani dictatorships, well-known Azerbaijani human rights activist and director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus told charter97.org.

- Leyla, congratulations on the high awards that you have recently received: the French Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur and the Theodor Haecker prize. Are these awards important for a human rights activist working in a dictatorship?

- I was very happy to receive them. But I also hope that these awards will serve to protect. In the authoritarian regime that we live in, we face repressions every day. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

- Before you became a human rights activist you had studied history and worked as a journalist. Your current occupation involves risks and deprivations. In 2011, the office of the Institute of Peace and Democracy was demolished. The same year, the Belarusian powers arrested your colleague and human rights activist Ales Bialatski. What are similarities and differences of the situations in Belarus and Azerbaijan?

- Of course, the losses that I suffered cannot be compared to Bialatski’s tragedy. I always compare the situations in Azerbaijan and Belarus. Something is similar, something is not. If we talk about repressions, political prisoners and prisoners of consciousness, their number is higher in Azerbaijan – about 80. But conditions in Belarusian prisons are worse.

But the most important thing is the attitude of the international community to the authoritarian regimes in Belarus and Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the geopolitical position of our country, rich in oil, allows NATO to use our airports to transfer military forces to Afghanistan, and to secure a platform in northern Iran. And that’s why the European Union, Council of Europe and the USA support Ilham Aliyev’s regime. Moreover, the sanctions and resolutions applied against Lukashenka’s regime are not used against Azerbaijan.

Another trait that is common for our regimes is the personalities of the dictators. Both Lukashenka and Aliyev deem themselves masters of their countries, and their peoples – cattle or slaves. The masters do whatever they please and nobody can contradict them. No international law or moral work for them.

- When you received the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, you said that “the soviet multinational prison collapsed, but we failed to build a democratic legal society in Azerbaijan.” The same is in fact true for Belarus. What hinders our countries on their way to democracy?

- This is a question that I always reflect upon. I started my career as a human rights activist in the Soviet times as a journalist of the newspaper Ekspress-Khronika, where I collected information about political repressions in Southern Caucuses. When I met my colleagues from Ukraine or the Baltic countries, everyone was convinced that the most important is to destroy the red fascism, and that when this prison of nations collapses we’d be able to build a democratic society in our countries.

Repressions that we suffer under the criminal regime of Ilham Aliyev’s clan make me feel like I live in occupation, when occupants can come and destroy your house, your belongings, kill your family while you are completely defenseless. The occupants possess all the power and commit crimes with the help of the police and security services.

Right after the collapse of the USSR the democratic governments were so weak, which has resulted in the current situation. In Belarus, populist Lukashenka won the elections in 1994, in Azerbaijan there were no elections at all. The people’s front, its leaders and the president gave up the power to Heydar Aliyev, former KGB general and former secretary of the central committee of the communist party. He installed the authoritarian regime. These subjective and objective factors have made an impact, and we haven’t been able to get rid of the dictatorships ever since.

- Don’t you think that the USSR still exists, just in a different way? A new union of dictatorships took its place, but the West refuses to admit it.

- When I meet with western diplomats or speak for international organizations, I often say that today we get much less support from the European Union and the USA, than when we fought against the authoritarianism in the Soviet Union. They wanted the monster of the USSR destroyed. Today, their interest in establishing democracy in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Belarus is much weaker.

We are told that everything depends on our people, that we ourselves should elect our president, parliament, government and so on. While the democratic world can only approve and support. Of course, on the one hand it is true, but on the other hand, I have been watching Azerbaijan and Ukraine for the past years, and I came to realize that we can get the same situation as happened in Iran in 2009, when a very harsh Islamist regime came to power. When a harsh, criminal, authoritarian regime rules, an enlightened and progressive democratic movement cannot be formed internally. In such conditions, opposition is radicalized, and the West must realize the danger.

- Just like Belarus, Azerbaijan is a participant of the Eastern Partnership. What can you say about this initiative of the European Union?

- Azerbaijan and Belarus completely ignore the obligations that they took within the Eastern Partnership. Unfortunately, the European Union doesn’t have procedures to apply against the rulers of the countries who ignore these obligations.

Hearings on Belarus and Azerbaijan took place in the Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament on July 21. I represented Azerbaijan; there were people from Belarus, too. There was a very vivid discussion about this atrocious situation. Nevertheless, later at a press-conference José Manuel Barroso basically didn’t say a word about human rights in Azerbaijan, and only spoke about the agreements reached in the energy sector. This reaction of the EU official organs is undoubtedly disappointing.

- National platforms for civil society have been launched in the countries of the Eastern Partnership. Why aren’t you a member of these platforms, and where does this inclination to center come from?

- One can say that I was elected an envoy of the civil society in 2011, at a conference on the dialog between the civil society and local authorities. In June my credentials expired, and it would be unfortunate if my place will be taken by a governmental institution. Today there are so many NGOs in our countries.

As for the platform and center, what you said is true. A bureaucratic approach is in action: the EU countries prefer to work with registered NGOs. But the problem is that in Azerbaijan and Belarus the powers don’t register truly democratic organizations, which means that the EU works with pro-government structures.

- What politics should the West use regarding countries like Azerbaijan and Belarus?

- There should be no double standards, we need a unified position. If the authoritarian regimes do not fulfill their obligations, if human rights are breached in the country, there should be a definite position regarding such countries. Maybe we need a list similar to the Magnitski list. The authorities, who commit crimes against their people, must be recognized as criminals in the EU. They cannot have accounts in European banks or travel freely in Europe.

Corrupted money of the criminals in power, who rob their people and have billions of dollars in offshore all over the world, must be traced down. The western press writes about this, but we need a specific politics to deal with this problem.

For example, now together with our colleagues from Uzbekistan, we are trying to find a way to “retrieve” international enterprises from the dictators. A country like Azerbaijan is no place for Eurovision. Thousands of people live in the streets because their homes were demolished to build facilities for the contest. The organizers and participants must think about how these people suffer when they agree to hold sports and culture events in dictatorships. This is unacceptable.

- They say that human rights activists have used the famous music contest to draw attention to the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan. Has it brought any material result? I am asking this question, because the World Championship in ice hockey can be held in Belarus next year.

- I was among those who started the campaign initially called ”No Eurovision in Authoritarian Regime”. We wrote letters to the producers of Eurovision saying that blood had been shed on the stage where they planned to have the contest. In their reply they wrote that the Eurovision song contest has no relation to the politics. When we realized that we cannot stop it, we focused on all media that were covering the contest. We asked them to write about the life conditions in Azerbaijan and about how we had suffered from Eurovision, instead of writing about the participants’ songs.

We were lucky that the previous contest had been held in Germany where the media are highly developed and freedom of speech is respected. Numerous German newspapers, magazines, TV-channels and radio stations reported, filmed and interviewed people in Azerbaijan. Germany became our ally because German media provided a broad coverage for the atrociousness and breaches of human rights in Azerbaijan.

But still, such contests cannot be held in authoritarian countries. We need to take our struggle to a global level, to attract attention of the international press. I remember well, when we showed the footage where an old woman was assaulted and beaten by the police, to the finalists of the contest, a journalist asked: “Is it Azerbaijan? Why is she being beaten?” I answered, yes, it was happening in Azerbaijan…

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Lukashenka’s last hope

The dictator no longer counts on Moscow’s saving him from the upcoming crisis.

Lukashenka’s visit to Beijing starts today. A Russian political scientist Andrei Suzdaltsev is discussing its motives and purposes on the politoboz.com web-site.

“It is symptomatic that exactly now, in the middle of July, the head of the Belarusian state rushed across whole Eurasia to the Pacific coast. Apparently, the Belarusian leadership can no longer afford waiting for a favorable turn of events. The majority of the country’s enterprises continue either manufacturing for stock, or start halting due to the absence of sales. Negative trends in foreign trade retain and are even grow; foreign reserves, to which loans are ascribed according to a weird Belarusian tradition, remain insufficient for mitigating more or less significant crisis phenomena in the economy; slowly, but steadily financial problems are approaching”, - the political scientist writes.

In general, the socio-economic situation in Belarus is not improving, but is steadily worsening, he believes. The latest tranches of the Eurasians Economic Community anti-crisis fund’s loan, which were initially meant as the starting capital for large-scale structural reforms in Belarusian economy, are in the end contributing to the conservation of the old authoritarian system of managing the national economy. The latest sixth tranche is a sort of a point of no return, since a financial chasm can already be noticed behind it. No new large-scale loans from Russia are anticipated in the near future.

“Belarusian authorities are facing quite a real threat of another devaluation of the national currency, probably even deeper than in 2011. It is worth mentioning that for the last year the Belarusian authorities have been busy with pumping the average salary up to 600 dollars, ostentatiously ignoring the experience of 2010. It is clear that the possible collapse of the new financial and currency pyramid, created by Belarusian authorities in the spirit of MMM, may lead to hard political consequences. This time they will not be able to blame it on Russian and the buyers of European cars”, - Andrei Suzdaltsev writes.

The political scientist reminds that it was Russia that saved Lukashenka from the consequences of the 2011 devaluation, but now it will be just inappropriate to ask Moscow again. It turns out that Belarus lives from a loan to a loan, insistently increasing the black hole in its economy, where billions of loans, pulled out of Russia, disappear. Apart from that this year Lukashenka already asked for 2 billion dollars from the Russian leadership for “modernization”, and even for 5 billion offstage. However, Moscow hinted at speeding up the integration processes and the readiness to provide loans, secured with privatization, which caused quite a painful reaction of the Belarusian ruler.

In Andrei Suzdaltsev’s opinion, Beijing remains Lukashenka’s last hope for salvation from collapse.

“However, the philosophy of the Belarusian-Chinese relations is exceptionally complicated and, what is the most important, is not balanced. It comprises two directly opposite tasks: on the one hand, Minsk needed to find a replacement for pragmatic Russian as a monopolist sponsor, on the other hand the friendship with Beijing was supposed to make Moscow more amenable to Minsk’s constant requests for financial and resource support. The Belarusian leadership made a bet on the Chinese issue’s being under the Kremlin’s special control and that the Belarusian blackmail was destined to be successful, as Lukashenka hoped. Ideally, Minsk counted that it would be able to provoke a competition for Belarus between Russian and China”, - Andrei Suzdaltsev believes.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Belarusians begin to withdraw money from banks

The outflow of time deposits opened by individuals in Belarusian rubles has been recorded in June 2013 for the first time since October 2012.

As of July 1, 2013, banks had 22.9 trillion Belarusian rubles of time deposits in rubles opened by individuals, which is 71.8 billion rubles less than a month ago, the press service of the National Bank reports.

A similar situation can be observed with time deposits of companies, but the outflow is more visible – from 17.1 trillion rubles to 15.8 trillion (1271.2 billion rubles less).

Individuals and companies had different tendencies in dealing with time deposits in foreign currency. Individuals increased deposits from $6.06 billion to $6.16 billion, while companies decreased deposits from $2.24 billion to $2.2 billion (in terms of the exchange rate of the National Bank at the reporting date).

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Profit from privatisation to go to Lukashenka's clan

A wise approach would give 30 years instead of one year to privatise a flat.

Vital Rymasheuski, a co-head of the organising committee to create the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, spoke to charter97.org about the statement by the minister of housing and utilities, who said that one year was enough to save 300 million rubels for privatisation of a flat.

“I am convinced that the minister of housing and utilities is guided by instructions from higher government bodies and Lukashenka personally, who gives orders to rob people. I say it because this illegal and ungrounded decree cannot be called otherwise than a robbery. The authorities use all means to take money from people. The aim of the privatisation decree is to rob already poor Belarusians who haven't privatised their flats yet. I am sure that most people living in unprivatised flats cannot collect such a sum within a year. Most of this money will go to the fund of the clan that keeps the power,” the politician said.

He underlined that it was just one of the instruments to rob Belarusians.

“Electricity cost will increase. The authorities already say directly and brazenly that electricity prices for individuals will be higher than for companies. The government speaks about the socially oriented state. They say we have taxes and utility costs basing on real incomes of people. To calculate the time of privatisation for an average family, we need to take the average family income and take, for example, 30% out of it monthly. The privatisation process will take 30 years or even 50 years for small towns with low salaries. This approach would be more or less logical. The term of one year doesn't correspond the incomes of Belarusian families,” Vital Rymasheuski is confident.

It should be reminded that minister of housing and utilities Andrei Sharets said recently that one year was enough to collect 300 million rubles to privatise a flat.


Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Zmitser Dashkevich: "Whatever hard and hopeless it can be, but our time is coming, and their time is going"

Mr. Dashkevich hopes to get released next month, after the end of the additional one-year prison term for "malignant insubordination to the administration of the penitentiary".

He wrote about it in a letter to the Bialynichy journalist Barys Vyrvich, received by him on 9 July.

In this letter Zmitser Dashkevich humorously remarks: "I am alright, still in prison. Sometimes I read the independent press and "Sovetskaya Belorussiya" – everyday. I am able to utter a whole set of cliches about the "rotting capitalism" at any time of day and night. If everything is quiet, next month I may get out of this captivity. We'll see by the situation, as my hopes have already let me down once ;)

In his letter the youth leader also expresses a skeptic attitude to the alleged "liberalization" which may take place in the country and says that "whatever hard and hopeless it may be, our time is coming and their time is going".

As usual, he finished his letter with a quotation from the Bible: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it."

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz: Terms remain the same

Neither Poland nor the European Union change their politics regarding Lukashenka’s regime.

Deputy foreign minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said about it in an interview to editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallia Radzina.

- Ms Minister, you have been the deputy foreign minister for a year and a half. The scope of your responsibility includes relations with Belarus. How do you see the situation in our country, and what is Poland’s current politics regarding Lukashenka’s regime?

- Poland’s position regarding Belarus remains the same because there have not been any significant changes in Belarus. We see that the economic situation is worsening, but this is the problem of the powers, while in the last three years the sphere of politics basically has not changed. For that reason the Polish politics doesn’t change.

Our politics has several components. First, close connection between the societies of Poland and Belarus is crucial. The Polish state does everything possible to give more visas to Belarusians. Last year we issued 350 thousand visas, while two years ago the number was 50 thousand less. The dynamics shows a positive trend, but unfortunately there is no consensus from the Belarusian part. More than half of Schengen visas that Belarusians get are Polish. Every second Belarusian enters the Schengen area with a Polish visa.

Second, we consider technical, cultural and regional cooperation among NGOs very important. We assist this cooperation and hope that it will develop.

Furthermore, Poland funds scholarships for Belarusian students who cannot study in Belarus due to political reasons. I mean the Kastus Kalinowski education program.

And the fourth component of our politics is the unbiased information communicated to the Belarusian society. We hope that the TV-channel Belsat and radio Racja making an impact here. They are the tool that allows us to provide Belarusians with information in the Belarusian language about what is actually happening in Belarus, Poland and the EU.

The website charter97.org works from Poland. Our ambition is to support all NGOs that work for a closer contact between the Polish and Belarusian societies. Poland is a democratic country open for its neighbors.

In fact, heads of state of Poland and Belarus have not met for several years, which shows some serious problems that do exist between our countries.

First of all, we in Poland believe that the elections in Belarus are not democratic and that there are political prisoners in the country.

- You are an expert on Russia, you were a member of the Polish-Russian commission on difficult issues, you even worked with the Russian issue in the Center of Eastern Research. How would you evaluate the processes that are taking place in today’s Russia around freedom of speech, civil society and opposition?

- In the recent months the situation in Russia has changed. Today the state controls NGOs in a more rigid way. And this opinion is shared by Poland and the entire European Union, which is reflected in official statements of Catherine Ashton and Štefan Füle.

We are convinced that Russia’s internal issues cannot be solved from outside; they are solely the responsibility of the Russian powers and people. But our Polish experience shows that the civil society is a very important part of modernization and development. A free civil society is a most powerful factor of innovation that assists a country’s development. This is our experience, but we believe that it can be useful for other countries. A harder control of NGOs in Russia will impede the modernization of the country. And it will become a problem for the Russian state and society to comprehend and solve.

- Today the Polish military are concerned with the joint training sessions of Belarusian and Russian armies held at the Russian airbase in Belarus. Is the Polish MFA concerned, too?

- Cooperation between Belarus and Russia in the defense sphere has been known for a while. The military cooperation between the countries is getting closer. We are aware of that and believe that this is a sovereign decision of these countries.

Russia’s presence in Belarus is no news either. Of course, Poland is watching these training sessions and the military cooperation between Belarus and Russia because this is an important factor of our security, but we don’t see it as a threat. However, it is crucial that the cooperation and the training sessions are as transparent as possible. If Poland, Belarus and Russia exchange relevant data, trust between the countries will grow stronger. Poland and Russia are discussing the matter. The training sessions and cooperation with Belarus are also a part of this discussion.
- After the events of December 19, 2010, and mass repressions in Belarus, the European Union took a rigid position regarding Lukashenka’s regime and demanded immediate release of the political prisoners. Nevertheless, while the political prisoners remain behind the bars, the EU is once again flirting with the dictator trying to resume another “dialog”. Few countries including Poland keep a firm position. Will you concede to the majority, or are you ready to fight for your principles?

- The politics of the European Union is a consensus of now 28 countries. These countries have very different approaches, understanding of the situation, and opinions. And it goes for Belarus as well as for the EU’s other neighbors and strategic partners. Poland’s interest in Belarus is strongest in the EU, while other states see Belarus as a distant country somewhere in the end of Europe (if in Europe at all). The interest is extremely weak.

Belarus is crucial for Poland, not only because it is our neighbor, but also because we have so much in common historically and culturally. Despite all our problems, our nations are very close. For us, Belarus is an important partner and we contribute to the EU’s politics regarding your country.

I don’t think that the EU’s politics regarding Belarus has seen some drastic changes in the recent years. Sanctions are still in force, terms are clear, I see no changes here. From time to time politicians in the EU discuss if emphases should be shifted, but it only concerns emphases, not the foundation of the politics. There are similar discussions about other countries.

- Sanctions have been lifted from foreign minister Uladzimir Makey who was one of the initiators of the nightmare of December 19, 2010. Is it a shifted emphasis?

- The sanctions have been temporarily lifted from the minister of foreign affairs, not from the person who is somehow responsible for the events of 2010. This is more an institutional than individual perspective. Despite all the problems, the European Union should maintain contact with the Belarusian powers, at least in order to communicate our terms to them. If the means for communication disappear, a dialog will not be feasible. From the constitutional perspective, the foreign minister is the principal contact for the EU. We don’t want to isolate Belarus; we want the political situation in the country to change towards democracy and European standards.

- We are very grateful to the Polish government for its support of independent media – website charter97.org, TV-channel Belsat, Radi Racja. Today they provide Belarus with alternative information. Can we count on your help in the future, given that the official powers in Belarus dislike it?

- Poland’s support of the contacts between the Polish and Belarusian societies is based on our belief that it is very important for our countries. This is the most crucial component of our politics, and we will not give it up despite the Belarusian powers’ opinion. This is a long positive process for Poles and Belarusians.

- The Kastus Kalinowski education program has proved to be a great support for the repressed Belarusians. But according to some sources, there are no funds for the post-graduate part of the program which will soon be shut down. Is it true?

- The Kastus Kalinowski education program till not be shut down. We hope that soon we’ll be able to shut the program down, but it will happen only when there’ll be no Belarusian students who cannot study in their country due to political reasons. But until there are such students, they can always count on Poland’s support. The possibility to get post-graduate education will remain.

This is not the only program that open Polish higher education establishments for Belarusian students. This year a new program of Stefan Banach will be launched not only for Belarusians, but for residents of the countries of the Eastern Partnership. The program will be for the best students of departments of law, mathematics and engineering who want to study in Poland.

- There are few female ministers in the world. But you are both a minister and author of several books, and the most important – the mother of three children. Could you share your secret, how do you do that?

- I can’t do everything, I just try to, first of all, do the most important things and do them as well as possible. The rest can wait. It is crucial to set priorities right – in family and politics, to separate things that really matter from trifles and needless tasks that are often very time-consuming.

- So what is more important: family or career?

- I have no answer to this question because both these things are very important. They belong to different dimensions, and it is impossible to pick one.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Hugh Grant: Zhyvie Belarus!

A prominent British actor expresses his support to Belarusian political prisoners.

“I would like to express my support to the people of Belarus who are fighting against the last oppressive dictatorship in Europe. I share the hope of everyone in the West that Belarus becomes a free country as soon as possible. I would like to send special words of support and respect to the brave Belarusians who are fighting oppression - people such as Zmicer Dashkevich, Nikolai Statkevich, Ales Bialiatski, Nikolai Avtukhovich, Igor Olinievich and others - all thrown in jail for their convictions. I would like to remind Belarusians fighting for basic freedoms that there is massive solidarity with your cause all over the world. Zhyvie Belarus!” Hugh Grant said.

The British film star sent words of support to the Belarusian citizens imprisoned for their views via Andrei Sannikov, a candidate in the 2010 presidential election and the leader of the civil campaign European Belarus.

The British actor and the Belarusian opposition leader have had a meeting in London recently.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Offshore company in the British Virgin Islands is linked with Shejman and Lukashenko

Traces of a company registered in an offshore zone led to the Belarusian government.

A leaked database of British Virgin Islands (BVI) companies links President Alexander Lukashenko to one of the largest private fortunes in Belarus, that of the shadowy oil trader Nikolai Vorobei, reported BNE.

Belarus' state-dominated economy is not "offshore" like Russia and Ukraine – because it remains mostly state-owned. Thus the database, which was leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists amidst no little publicity, contains only 19 with Belarus addresses. Further than that, only one comes with a director's name attached, those scant details suffice to link Lukashenko to Vorobei.

The telltale BVI offshore is Interforest Corp, registered in 1998 under director Alexander Metla at a Minsk address. bne spoke to residents at V.Horyzhej 16, who confirmed that the man in question is Alexander Mikhailovich Metla, the well-known head of the Pamyat' Afgana charity for Afghan veterans.

bne contacted Metla directly, who confirmed that the company had been registered under his address. Metla said however that he knew nothing about the firm and that his name and address had obviously been used by a third party without his knowledge.

However, Metla apparently fronted for Belarus officials in one prominent case shortly after the BVI company was established. In 1998, when Interforest Corp was set up, no one had heard of Metla, but he made his public debut just a year later in a court case pitting the country's top policeman against an investigative journalist: a libel suit brought by Viktor Sheiman - the feared interior minister and secretary of the national security council – against journalist Sergei Anisko. Anisko had written an article describing what he said was a country residence being built by Sheiman at his parents' dacha in Podlipki, west of Minsk.

In the hearings, Metla testified that the sprawling new property under construction adjacent to Sheiman's parents' dacha belonged to him. As a result the judge awarded crippling damages against Anisko and the newspaper that published his piece.

Metla's subsequent career points to the same. Working in Sheiman's shadow, he has achieved prominence as director of Pamyat Afghana. Founded 2002, the charity boasts Sheiman as a member of the supervisory board. It is also personally patronized by Lukashenko and enjoys generous tax benefits.

Ironically for the director of a BVI company - and unusually, even in proudly pro-Soviet Belarus - Metla is an openly avid fan of Stalin. He even founded "The Stalin Line" theme park, which recreates a World War II battleground in Belarus. However, the links between Stalinist military glory and offshore practices may not be so incongruous in reality as they appear. Afghan veterans and Belarusian import-export operations were closely linked in the 1990s, when the state supported veterans' associations with excise tax exemptions, making them an important commercial channel, according to Anisko.

Metla's apparent fronting for Sheiman highlights the relationship between the Lukashenko regime and Belarus' shadowy, but lucrative, private sector. Interforest Corp is linked to a prominent timber firm: Joint Venture Interforest, based in Novopolotsk in the north of Belarus, and founded in 1999, according to the Belaspravka online register. Under Belarusian legislation, as a joint venture, it must have a foreign shareholder. The company told bne that it has an investor from “Western Europe”, but declined to name either the investor or the country of origin. Metla's Interforest Corp was founded just one year before the Belarusian Interforest JV, suggesting the BVI offshore may have played the role of "foreign investor". The leaked BVI data are valid up to 2010.

Metla denied any connection to the Belarus JV 'Interforest'.

Belarus does not have a publicly accessible register of company ownership, but according to the Orbis Business intelligence database, the Belarus shareholder in JV Interforest is OOO Avtoimport, also based in Novopolotsk. The database does not contain information on the foreign shareholders.

OOO Avtoimport is a car importer established in the 1990s by powerful Novopolotsk businessman Nikolai Vorobei, one of Belarus' richest men. Vorobei's core business since the 1990s is oil and fuel trading via OOO Interservis. His home town is situated on the crucial Druzhba oil pipeline – the mainline carrying Russian crude into Europe. Novopolotsk also hosts the flagship state-owned Polymir refinery, part of the giant state-owned Belneftekhim petrochemicals holding.

Interservis has been one of Belarus' two largest private fuel traders since for a large part of the last two decades, according to media reports. The relationship between the company's private oil product trading and the state-owned refinery has fuelled much speculation over the years.

Vorobei, of whom no photos exist and who has never given an interview, did not respond to attempts to contact him. He is clearly connected to the very upper echelons of power however. In 2012, Interservis business practices even prompted a bust-up with Russia.

Within the remit of the forming Customs Union – which now groups Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan under free trade rules - starting in 2010, Belarus was granted the right to import Russian crude for its refineries free of export duties. However, should the resulting oil products be subsequently exported outside the Customs Union, the traders are required to stump up the bypassed levies to the Russian budget.

Belarusian exports of oil-based solvents and diluents – which do not trigger the export duty payments - promptly soared tenfold or so in 2011-2012 - with Interservis the main exporter, according to media reports. Russia is crying foul, alleging false classification of exports.

Despite Russia's huge leverage over Belarus, Moscow's protests over its practices have done little to stem the rapid expansion of Interservis. In 2012, the company privatised Belarus' largest bitumen producer, launched construction of a new $270m oil refinery in Novopolotsk, and in January this year bought a controlling stake in Amkodor, Belarus' leading producer of road-building equipment. Such frenzied M&A makes Interservis the “fastest expanding holding in Belarus”, claims Yaroslav Romanchuk, head of the Mises research center and an opposition presidential candidate in 2010. He estimates Vorobei to be the country's fifth richest man with assets worth over $2.5bn.

The pyramid climbs higher then. While Metla is Sheiman's sidekick, Sheiman – appointed head of the President's Property Administration (in other words in control of all state assets) earlier this year - in turn is Lukashenko's trusted henchman of twenty years' standing. The BVI connection to Vorobei's business in the 1990s - during Sheiman's five year stint as interior minister - suggests Sheiman acted as "krysha" (directly translated as "roof", but meaning a protector from the law and other predators) to Belarus' shadowy but lucrative private export-import business. Sheiman's loyalty to Lukashenko suggests that he in turn may have been acting in the name of the president.

The Metla-Sheiman-Lukashenko link could for the first time offer a glimpse of documentation of the Lukashenko regime's involvement in Belarus' shadowy private sector.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Guillermo Fariñas: Lukashenka regime is the last communist dictatorship in Europe

The legendary Cuban dissident received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize.

Guillermo Fariñas was awarded with the prize in 2010, but the authorities allowed him to travel abroad only this year.

The award ceremony was broadcast live on the website of the European Parliament.

The Cuban dissident spoke about Cuba in his acceptance speech and mentioned Belarus. Guillermo Fariñas said he had visited several European countries and talked to the people who had struggled and continued to struggle against dictatorships.

“I met with Belarusian opposition leaders. We found a common language and agreed on cooperation. I was impressed by the feeling of brotherhood and fellowship we had at the meeting with Belarusians,” the Cuban dissident said.

Guillermo Fariñas called the Lukashenka regime “the last communist dictatorship of Europe” and urged members of the European Parliament not to accept its existence. He reminded about a danger of cooperation with authoritarian regimes.

“A dictatorship is like an infection. It can be passed from one country to another,” Guillermo Fariñas said.

The dissident noted that Europe should not tacitly approve the authoritarian regimes near its borders and stand aside from struggling against them.

“I've often heard the expression 'realpolitik' in the last few days. I'd like to remind that the real politics must focus on people.

People are the object and the subject of the real politics. If people are persecuted, cannot express their opinion freely and found parties and organisations, it has no relation both to reality and politics,” Guillermo Fariñas said to the applauding audience.

The dissident said the names of the most prominent Cuban political prisoners and stressed that their release to a great extent depended on a position of Western countries.

Guillermo Fariñas visited Poland in early June. He met with 2010 presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, editor-in-chief of charter97.org Natallia Radzina, coordinators of the civil campaign European Belarus Zmitser Badnarennka, Uldzimir Kobets and Aliaksandr Atroshchankau, youth leader and journalist Yauhen Afnahel. Guillermo Fariñas gave an interview to charter97.org and sent words of support to Belarusian political prisoners.

Guillermo Fariñas is expected to go from Brussels to the United States. He plans to have meetings with American politicians in Washington and Atlanta. In Miami, the city that became the centre of the Cuban opposition in exile, he will meet with his countrymen who had to leave the country. Guillermo Fariñas will then return to Cuba to continue struggling against the Castro regime.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

NCIP senior officials quit work in protest

The management of the National Centre of Intellectual Property protests against the administrative reform.

The cause of the conflict is that the National Centre of Intellectual Property (NCIP) disagree with the administrative reform that deprives employees of the patent agency of the status of government officials. All senior managers and some ordinary employees of the centre have dismissed.

NCIP employees published an open letter on the official website. “This madness cannot last long,” they described their problem.

The full text of the letter is below:

“The staff of the National Centre of Intellectual Property expresses its sincere gratitude to the centre's head D. Niadzvetski and thanks his for his months-long stubborn struggle to save the unique specialists and the national system of intellectual property resting on their brains and talents.

We don't know what we will achieve, but we will work hard to revive what our country had been building for over 20 years and almost ruined for a few months having decided that it would be wise to deprive patent agency employees of the status of civil servants to optimise the system of government agencies. The matter is the specialists who, on behalf of the state, make decisions on issuing protection documents; settle disputes in the industrial property sector; bear responsibility for national registries; work out legal acts protecting the state's interests in the international arena; perform other duties that the state needs.

We will continue to speak about the unique character of the Belarusian system of intellectual property and the people who contribute to it. Their high professional level was praised by specialists of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Eurasian Patent Organization and foreign patent agencies. We are losing talents. Specialists of the patent agency, who have served the state for many years, have to look for a new job in other organisations that will allow them to have the same salaries that, though not being high, allowed them to feed their families.

We will push all efforts to turn into reality our idea of a high value of intellectual property. Foreign counties inculcating this idea from early childhood develop actively and enter international markets. We lag behind so far. We will remain among laggards until we open our eyes and admit the truth.

We hope the people who disagreed to work under the new conditions and quit on June 28, 2013, will soon return. This madness cannot last long. Is it not madness if the organisation doesn't have the head and the people who make the decisions that the state needs?

We don't lose hopes. We want to believe that we will finally receive an answer to our letter about the future of the national system of intellectual property that almost 140 employees of the patent agency sent to the Administration of the President of the Republic of Belarus on April 19, 2013.

The staff that will always be with you...”
The National Centre of Intellectual Property subordinate to the State Committee on Science and Technologies of Belarus protects the rights on intellectual property items and performs functions of a patent body.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

“Modest” dictator lives in palace and uses Maybach

Aliaksandr Lukashenka urged officials to live modestly.

However, he himself prefers luxury holidays, wears an expensive watch and owns a posh Maybach.

“We exert and will continue to exert great, enormous pressure on the state machinery and officials to make them serve the people, discourage them from stealing and encourage them to live modestly,” the ruler said on July 1 at a solemn meeting on occasion of the official independence day.

Lukashenka, however, is from being an ascetic person. Salidarnasts recalls just few well-known examples that demonstrate what the head of state couldn't refuse to “live modestly”.

He didn't refuse trips to luxury resorts, like the one in the Swiss Alps that he visited on the invitation of then president of the local National Olympic Committee with all expenses paid from the Austrian budget in 2002. Austrian journalist Erwin Roth published the bills in 2010 showing that the holidays of the Belarusian delegation cost 200,000 euros.
A 7 star hotel in Abu Dhabi where Lukashenka stayed in 2007 on the invitation of the sheikh

He didn't refuse an expensive watch. Barack Obama wears a $325 watch, while Lukashenka has a Patek Philippe Calatrava 5120j worth $17,000, which is eight times more thatn his official salary.
He didn't refuse a posh car he received from a person whose name is kept secret from public. Asked by journalists about his new car, Lukashenka answered: “Frankly speaking, this Maybach is my birthday present from one Russian.”

He didn't refuse the residence in Sochi on the territory of the recreation centre “Belarus”.

He didn't refuse a Boeing 767 that earlier belonged to the president of Turkmenistan. The aircraft is said to have been bought by Belarus for $100 million. It is said that the plane is equipped with white leather seats and sofas, fine wood paneling, golden curtains and a bejeweled shower.
He didn't refuse a new huge residence quickly constructed on Peramozhtsau Avenue, one of Minsk's main traffic arteries, and the State Flag Square that will be officially opened on July 2.

It is not the full list of the things the man, who calls on others to be modest, didn't refuse to have.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Kolia Lukashenka met strippers

Kolia Lukashenka and his father met the winners and finalists of the Miss Minsk 2013 competition.

An internet newspaper Salidarnasc reports about that.

A reception with the participation of Lukashenka family, Minsk’s authorities and heads of state TV channels took place in the evening on 28 June.

As one of the contestants, present at the reception, told Salidarnasc about 10 girls were invited.

“Some did not want to come. But it was an obligatory program, refusals were not accepted. After the reception, where boy Kolia was also present and with whom some girls also communicated, many of them went for work in clubs”, - she shared.

On the next day the Belarusian internet exploded after revealing photographs of some finalists of the beauty contest Miss Minsk 2013 had been published.

It turned out that the winners were well-known in Minsk’s night clubs and work at least as strippers in the time free of the beauty competition.

“A number of winners and participants were familiar faces, working in go-go and striptease. The winner (Jana Kantsavienka – ed.) is a constant club guest and these photos revealed to us nothing new about her. She could often be seen accompanied by different men”, - a top-manager of one of the capital’s night-clubs told Salidarnasc.
Second vice-Miss Natalia Bashura turned out to be a go-go dancer.
Miss Friendship Katsiaryna Vojtus or Kati is a stripper. She works at night clubs and private parties.
Other girls, well-known in narrow circles, participated in the contest’s final – Kryscina Illuk, Volha Kisialova, Anzhalika Cikhanovich. The latter two are members of E.b.a.s.h. quartet.
“Most of these girls are very nice and decent, and what they do is just their job, - the head of one of the capital’s night clubs summarized. – But it was absolutely unnecessary for them to compete for being Minsk’s face. But the adequacy of the contest’s organizers causes the most questions…”

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau