Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MINSK208
2006-02-27 14:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Minsk
Cable title:  

EMBASSY MINSK BIWEEKLY REPORT - February 24, 2006

Tags:  PGOV PHUM ECON BO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 000208 

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK BIWEEKLY REPORT - February 24, 2006


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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 000208

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK BIWEEKLY REPORT - February 24, 2006


MINSK 00000208 001.5 OF 004



1. The following are brief items of interest compiled by
Embassy Minsk.

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Human Rights
--------------


2. Jailed Businessman Now a Fugitive

On February 9, businessman Nikolai Avtukhovich who is facing
tax evasion charges disappeared from house arrest in Grodno on
the first day of his trial. Before leaving, Avtukhovich sent a
letter to the prosecutor general claiming that the
controversial tax evasion charges against him were politically
motivated. In his letter, Avtukhovich said he would not leave
the country, but would prove his innocence and promised to
publish a statement after February 23. His lawyer denied
knowing about Avtukhovich's whereabouts or his letter.
Avtukhovich, owner of a private taxi company in Volkovysk, is
charged with failure to pay USD 315,000 in taxes and violating
cash handling regulations. Avtukhovich was arrested on October
14 and immediately began a 74-day hunger strike, resulting in
health problems that allowed him to transfer to house arrest on
December 27.


3. Writers Barred from Schools?

On February 13, poet and former chair of the Union of
Belarusian Writers (UBW) Vladimir Neklyayev accused GOB
authorities of trying to bar UBW members from educational
institutions. In January, authorities told heads of schools
and universities not to permit events involving students and
members of the UBW. However, events coordinated with the
recently established, pro-government Union of Writers of
Belarus are allowed.


4. Opposition Activists Detained, Apartments Searched, Material
Seized

Lida Police on February 14 detained head of 10+ presidential
candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich's Grodno campaign manager
Anatoly Khotko, Sergei Malchik, and Grodno City Council Deputy
Sergei Antusevich for five hours. The men were returning to
Grodno from Minsk when policed stopped their vehicle and seized
1,200 copies of the independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya.
Mosty police on February 15 searched the apartment of Mosty
District Council member Ales Sarembyuk and seized decks of
playing cards bearing images of GOB officials, copies of the
bulletin Mostovskaya Pravda, computer discs, and Milinkevich

photos. A Gomel district court judge on February 21 fined
opposition activist Svyatoslav Shalamov USD 135 for early
campaigning against Lukashenko after police detained Shalamov
on February 8 and seized 11,000 leaflets satirizing Belarus'
state television network. On February 20, the district judge
fined opposition activist Yury Glushakov USD 135 for the same
charge after police on February 7 seized satirical leaflets he
was carrying. On February 21, the BKGB arrested imprisoned
activist Andrei Klimov's assistant Timofei Dranchuk and
confiscated 65 items from his apartment, including boxes of
wastepaper, old newspapers and leaflets, books written by
Klimov, a computer, and personal documents. The arrest came a
day after Klimov met with Milinkevich. On February 17,
authorities unexpectedly moved Klimov from his correctional
facility near Minsk to a facility in Krupki near Gomel.


5. Travel Ban Imposed on Activist

On February 16, the Minsk police imposed a travel ban on
opposition activist Oksana Novikova after police investigator
Vladimir Galitsky reopened Novikova's 2004 criminal case in
which she allegedly used a forged passport to obtain residence
address registration in Minsk. On February 15, Galitsky
officially charged Novikova for the offense. In 2004, Novikova
was convicted of distributing leaflets containing "slanderous"
information about Lukashenko, but did not serve her 2.5-year
restricted prison sentence due to her pregnancy.


6. Union of Belarusian Poles Activist Deprived of Passport

Grodno border guards on February 17 seized the passport of
journalist and Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) activist Andrei
Pisalnik after returning from a meeting in Warsaw. The GOB
placed Pisalnik on a foreign travel ban in 2005 for alleged
involvement in a criminal case. Border guards seized
Pisalnik's passport, documents relating to his meeting in
Poland, a museum guidebook, and a magazine published by Poles
in Latvia.


7. Polish Journalist Expelled

Correspondent for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza Waclaw

MINSK 00000208 002.9 OF 004


Radziwinowicz on February 19 was barred entry into Belarus at
the train station in Grodno and put on the next train to
Poland. Radziwinowicz had all the required documents and was
traveling to Minsk to interview President Lukashenko. GOB
authorities later announce that Radziwinowicz was on Belarus'
travel ban list.


8. Youth Jailed For Demonstration

On February 19, four opposition youth activists were sentenced
to 15 days in jail for holding candles during the February 16
Day of Solidarity demonstration in which 100 people gathered to
remember imprisoned opposition politicians and prominent
activists who disappeared in 1999 and 2000. Twenty-four people
were detained during the demonstration, but only four,
including ZUBR activists Oleg Metelitsa, remained in jail over
night and then charged with "petty hooliganism" for allegedly
yelling obscenities and ignoring police officers. The judge
refused to listen to defense witness testimony and would not
watch the police video of the defendants' arrest.


9. Zhoda Investigated Over Mohammad Cartoons

The BKGB on February 22 began criminal proceedings against the
independent newspaper Zhoda for "inciting hatred or religious
hostility" after reprinting the infamous Mohammad cartoons that
were initially published in a Danish newspaper in 2005. The
BKGB seQQ!"0}the newspaper.
Zhoda's next issue will not be released because of the BKGB
seizures. Zhoda printed 3,050 copies of the controversial
issue but distributed only 25 percent of those copies after
Korol returned to Minsk from a trip and learned of the
cartoons.

--------------
Lukashenko and His Followers
--------------


10. Lukashenko Has His Own Civil Society Organization

On February 10, the National Coordinating Council of pro-
Lukashenko parties and associations met at the Central Palace
of Officers to offer its support to Lukashenko ahead of the
presidential elections. The NCC includes leaders of 40
political parties and associations that, according to the
Presidential Administrations chief ideology officer Oleg
Proleskovksaya, represent and build civil society in Belarus.
The NCC is to observe the elections and will ensure an "open
and transparent" process.


11. Lukashenko Scorns Prime Minister

President Lukashenko on February 14 publicly reprimanded PM
Sergey Sidorsky for increased vegetable prices and a poor
economic report. Lukashenko accused Sidorsky of failing to
give "exhaustive" answers to questions about vegetable price
hikes and other economic issues while the President's press
office called Sidorsky's report a "self-evaluation" that gave
excuses and not "visions." Lukashenko was angered at the
increase in vegetable prices and asked Sidorsky why this
happened if Belarus had sown enough vegetables to satisfy local
demand. Lukashenko warned Sidorsky that his position was an
appointed position.


12. Lukashenko Alerts Police to Potential "Civil Unrest"

Lukashenko at a February 21 national security conference told
law enforcement agencies to brace for upcoming situations and
prevent harmful developments. The President accused the West
of interfering in Belarus' internal affairs and predicted that
it would use blackmail and the opposition to provoke extremism
in Belarus. "Realizing the lack of chances for a legal win,
opponents of the authorities sweat their guts out to fuel
tensions in the country, loosen the foundations of the state
and society, and blacken our spiritual values."


13. Lukashenko Meets Cadets, Warns of Nationalism

President Lukashenko met with cadets and instructors on
February 24 at the Minsk Suvorov Military Academy ?hdlQT95(}NpdQQQnko, these
nationalists sought to "humiliate" and "destroy" Belarus'
military financially and morally by handing over the
responsibility to protect the country to Europe, the U.S., and
NATO. Lukashenko added that the nationalists deliberately

MINSK 00000208 003.26 OF 004


sought to make Belarus dependent, weak, and defenseless.

--------------
Economy
--------------


14. GOB Designates Companies Responsible for Growth

The Belarusian Council of Ministers listed 113 enterprises,
which account for 75 percent of Belarus' exports, that are
responsible for increasing the Belarus' 2006 GDP and industrial
output. The projected 2006 growth target for GDP is from seven
to eight percent and industrial output is to rise from 6.5 to
eight percent. The Ministries of Economy and Statistics,
industry regulatory authorities, and regional executive
committees are tasked to monitor the performance of these
enterprises.


15. State to Increase Ownership of Profitable Sugar Company

Shareholders of Belarus' Zhabinka sugar redinery in Bres4 plan
to hold an extraordinary general meeting on March 6 to increase
the state's stake in the refinery. Experts attribute the rise
in state shares to the state loans the refinery would receive
in return. In 2005, the GOB nationalized the refinery using
the Golden Share rule against the wishes of the Russian
shareholders, even though (or probably because) it was a
profitable business. After the refinery's nationalization, the
GOB immediately increased iTs ownership from 25 per#ent to 97
percent. Now the "shareholders" will meet to raise their
stakes even further.


16. Privatization A Last Resort

Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Tur on February 10 told the
Council of Directors in the Minsk City Administration that
privatization in Belarus was a "last resort." According to
Tur, target budget revenues comE from the use of state property
and not privatization. Privatization revenues accounted for
eight percent of the budget, while dividends and rent payments
from state property accounted for the rest.

-------------- %---
Information
--------------


17. Polish Radio Begins Broadcasts

Radio Racja (Radio Rightful) on February 22 began broadcasting
to Eastern and Central Belarus from Bialystok in northeast
Poland. Radio Racja originally broadcasted for Poland's
Belarussian minority, but closed down several years ago for
lack of funding. The station's new broadcasts, in Belarusian,
will be financed by the Polish government.

--------------
Bilateral Relations
--------------


18. GOB Threatens Lithuania Over Nuke Dump

Belarus' Deputy Environment Minister Aleksandr Apatsky on
February 14 announced that Belarus would retaliate should
Lithuania build a radioactive waste dump near its shared bnrder
with Belarus. Apatsky threatened to build a facility, such as
a haxardous dump, on the Belarusian side of theborder that the
GOB would "not like to have in thecountry's center." Apatsky
claimed he did not want his comments to be mistaken for a
threat, but warned t`at if Belarus' pos)tion on the nuclear
waste dump was ienored, then B%larus had the right to retaliateQ
likewise. When Lithuania first announced its intentions to
build such a dumpsite in 2005, B%laruS responded by threatening
to build tvo giant pig farms fear the border and upstream from
Vilnius on the Neean river.

--------------
Sports
--------------


19. Belarusian Olympians Fail Blood Test

Two Belarusian Olympians at the Turino Games on February 10
were suspended for five days after exceeding hemoglobin levels
in a blood test. The 32-year-old Sergei Dolidovich and the 22-
year-old Adeksandr L`zutkin were the ondy crmss-country skiers
sent by Belarus to the games.


20. Tennis Players Win Davis Cup Quarter Finals, Awarded
Handguns

On February 12, BelarusIan tennis playdrs Max Mirnyi and

MINSK 00000208 004.5 OF 004


Vladimir Voltchkov beat the Spanish tennis team in a 4-1 Davis
Cup quarterfinal upset in Minsk. An ecstatic President
Lukashenko gave a speech following the win and promised to name
Mirnyi and Voltchkov "Heroes of Belarus." Lukashenko claimed
that he was so excited about the tournament that he could not
work, eat, or sleep. The President presented Mirnyi (U.S.
resident) and Voltchkov with engraved handguns, which he called
a token of the men's honor and valor. Mirnyi, whose name
translated into English means "peaceful," allegedly quipped
that the gift seemed strange for someone with his name.

--------------
Anti-American
--------------


21. Gulag Invented in U.S.

Journalist Anton Andreyenko published an article on February 22
in the 7 DNEI state weekly (circulation 38,886) that claimed
the U.S. invented gulag-style camps and Soviet authorities
simply adopted the system. Andreyenko argued that Gulags first
appeared during the U.S. Civil War and were places where
prisoners were tortured "out of pure sadism." Since the North
won the war, proof of these atrocities no longer exist.
Andreyenko then predicted that the advent of the "digital age"
would ensure [the U.S.'] total control over each and every
citizen much like Nazi concentration camps, where every
prisoner had a number.

--------------
Quote of the Week
--------------


22. Lukashenko to cadets at the Suvorov Academy:

"Our Western adversaries understand perfectly well the importance
of taking possession of young people's minds to manipulate them and
involve them in illegal activities."

KROL