Lukashenka: There were two times when I wanted to close Minsk city executive committee

The dictators wanted to appointed a “iron” military man to rule the city.

Minsk should be a model city with perfect management. This task was set today by Alyaksanr Lukashenka, who approved some new appointment in the city government, BelTA news agency reports.

“I'd like to tell you honestly that there were two times when I wanted to close the Minsk city executive committee at night, seal its doors for a day and appoint new head of the Committee in the morning, maybe a military man, an 'iron' man who would hire new executive officers and city's top officials in a short time so that they were able to toss out the old personnel leaving only the minimum number of old employees and employ new ones,” the head of state said.

“I repeat this honestly in public again,: I had this desire two times. I'd like it to be for the last time,” the dictator warned. “No excuses. You may understand me as you want. But it is you who should have more interest here. It's you who were born in Minsk and grew up there.”

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Yarmoshyna cannot stand boycott

Appels to boycott “elections” will be classified as mass public events.

This statement was made today by head of the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) Lidzia Yarmoshyna, BelTA news agency reports.

A provision relating to “elections” boycott will not disappear from the electoral legislation, but it will be removed from the section on campaigning, the CEC head explains.

“Calling to boycott will be possible under the rules of all mass public events, but not on the simplified application procedure for the money from budget funds. It will be independent activity of candidates, parties and individuals without the preferences offered by the [electoral] legislation,” Lidzia Yarmoshyna said.

Taking into account that mass public events are in fact phorobited in Belarus, such plans mean that carrying out a boycott campaign will be impossible. The authorities seem to make conclusions after the failure of the election farce on September 23.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Believers protest against Dashkevich being humiliated

If the head of the Mozyr colony Yury Zabarouski tried to fill the whole country’s protestant community with indignation with him persecuting a protestant Dzmimtry Dashkevich, than he succeeded.

On behalf of the believers of the Christian Church of the Evangelic Faith of John the Baptist the pastor Antoniy Bokun addressed the department of corrections of the Interior Ministry, General Prosecutor’s office and Lukashenka’s administration calling to stop the pressure on the prisoner of the Mosyr colony, youth organization “Young Front’s” leader, Narodnaya Volia reports.

“Dzmitry Dashkevich is a Christian believer, he has been a parishioner of the Christian Church of the Evangelic Faith of John the Baptist since 2006. It causes lack of understanding and concern that the representatives of the Mozyr colony’s 20 administration express themselves neglectfully towards a Christian confession, which is represented in Belarus by almost 1000 registered communities and unites tens of thousands of believers”, - the statement says.

The pastor of the church which Dashkevich belongs to on behalf of all the believers demands a comprehensive investigation of the facts of the unlawful deeds of the Mozyr colony’s 20 administration. “We demanded to stop the pressure which Dzmitry Dashkevich is being a subject to, identify and punish the responsible officials and also take measures in order not to let such cases repeat in future”, - the statement says.

It is of no doubt that if not the whole thousand of the protestant communities will now be demanding to investigate the incident with Dashkevich, then a significant number of them.

We would remind, that according to the activists’ information, Dzmitry Dashkevich ended up in a lock-up because of a conflict with the colony’s head and went on a hunger strike to protest against the insults and persecution which were cause by the fact that he belongs not “a wrong faith”.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Zmitser Dashkevich receives rape threats from prison warden

Young Front reports about hideous facts of pressure on the political prisoner.

Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich has been on hunger strike for the seventh day in a punishment cell of the Mozyr penal colony.

The reason for the hunger strike became known today. It is cruel treatment from Mozyr penal colony administration, including prison warden Yury Zbarouski.

The Young Front press service reports the prison warden began to insult Dashkevich using obscene words as he met him for the first time. Zbarouski threatened the Young Front leader would spend his whole prison term in a punishment cell.

The political prisoner has been in the Mozyr penal colony only for a week, but prison board already had several meetings on his issue, deprived him of all visits and gave him a reprimand.

According to Young Front, a prison officer found a blade on the table in the barrack for 40 prisoners. Dashkevich was moved to the barrack only recently and it wasn't his blade, but the colony administration threatens to label him as an inmate inclined to commit suicide.

Zmitser Dashkevich filed an application announcing his hunger strike. The chief of the disciplinary department crumpled it and threw away threatening the Young Front leader would be raped by other inmates.

After these incidents, Zmitser refused to fulfill any orders. He again appeared before the prison board and got another term in the punishment cell. The Young Front leader doesn't plan to terminate his hunger strike until the prison staff changes the attitude to him.

“Zmitser Dashkevich has been in this penal colony for only a week. I cannot imagine how it goes further... The disciplinary department head said to me Dashkevich would face even tougher conditions if any information appeared in the media. But I don't see other variants except for voicing out these awful things,” Anastasia Palazhanka, the fiancee of the political prisoner, says.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

No money to pay off debts: Dictator takes new loans

Belarus plans to refinance its external debt in 2013.

This statement was made by Belarusian minister of finance Andrei Kharkavets at an extended meeting of the commission on budget, finance and taxation policy of the “house of representatives” on September 26, BelaPAN news agency reports.

He remarked that Belarus enters a “period of maximum external debt payments” in 2013. “The sum of payments is expected to double in comparison with this year's payments and reach $3.1 billion,” the minister stressed.

In this regard, the government sets a task to refinance a part of the debt package, Kharkavets says. “We'll work in the following directions: firstly, receiving two tranches of the EurAsEC Anticrisis Fund's loan at a sum of $0.9bn. Secondly, we've already begun our work this year to enter the international capital markets to place there government bonds in 2013,” the Ministry of Finance head said.

He assured that Belarus's economic conditions would be “stable” in 2013. “The external debt will amount to 21.1% of the GDP (we have a limit of not more than 25%). The internal debt will be 3% with a limit of not more than 20%. Payments for the government debt will be 7.8% of country's fiscal revenues (the limit is not more than 10%),” Andrei Kharkavets said.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Pavel Sevyarynets: Farce failed

The authorities failed to force Belarusians to vote.

Political prisoner Pavel Sevyarynets, a co-head of Belarusian Christian democracy party, comments on the outcome of the “parliamentary election” for charter97.org.

“There was no 'election'. It was a farce. It was an attempt of the regime to force Belarusians to vote, but it failed. Our observers report voter turnout was very low. The farce failed. Ballot rigging, substitution of ballots and ballot boxes are crimes. These crimes committed by the authorities against Belarusians, against the people of Belarus, against God. Depriving Belarusians of the right of choice is devilry. Even God gives people the choice either to believe in him or not,” the politician said.

“The authorities announced their results. These results are lies. The election was invalid,” the political prisoner noted.

We remind the co-head of the organizing committee to create BCD party was sentenced to three years in an open-type detention facility for post-election protests on December 19, 2010. Pavel Sevyarynets serves his term in special detention facility No. 7 in the village of Kuplin (Pruzhany district).

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau

Mass arrests of observers in Minsk

Twenty observers of the parliamentary elections are detained by the riot police in Minsk.

On 24 September couple dozen activists of the youth project “Election Observation: Theory and Practice”, which was observing the elections at the polling stations in the capital, were detained, the human rights center Viasna reports.

“Around twenty people, which were arranging the observation, are detained. The observer Ales Zayats told that together with him were probably detained Anastasiya Matchanka, Karyna Bobryk, Ales Herasimenka”, - a journalist Alina Radachynskaya writes in her Facebook account.

One of the detained Maryia Sliaptsova managed to tell that the observers were detained by the riot police near the Jazz hostel in Shchadryna street in Minsk.

Now they are being taken to the Minsk’s Central police department.

The young people were observing the elections in the framework of the Election Observation: Theory and Practice (EOTP) project.

Commentator Aliaksandr Krasnapeutsau