EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - January 17, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MINSK 000043

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - January 17, 2006



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

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Human Rights
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2. Polish Activists Fined

The Grodno Border Control Unit on January 5 fined two Union of
Belarusian Poles (UBP) activists Andrei Pochobut and Andrei
Pisalnik the maximum USD 135 for allegedly entering a restricted
border zone. Border guards stopped the activists on December 26 on
their way to Sapotkin where they intended to meet local UBP
members. According to Pochobut, the border guard unit told the
activists that authorities would not give them permission to be in
the zone.


3. Union Members Forced to Leave

On January 6, the leadership of the independent trade union at the
AZOT factory in Grodno filed a complaint to the regional
prosecutor's office, stating that the company administration forced
workers to leave their union. According to Radio Liberty reports,
on January 5, 40 workers turned in handwritten applications to
terminate their membership. The prosecutor is supposed to check
the allegations and prosecute those responsible at AZOT under a law
against coercion. AZOT is the biggest company in Grodno and its
independent trade union is one of the largest with 800 members.


4. Police Confiscate Private Newspaper

Three plainclothesmen in Svetlogorsk on January 6 stopped the
editor-in-chief of the private newspaper Rehiyanalnya Naviny (Local
News),Telman Maslyukov. Maslyukov reported that the men searched
his backpack, which contained 297 copies of his paper and 1,289 New
Year greeting cards signed by 10+ candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich,
and then brought him to the police station. Police officers
confiscated all Maslyukov's written materials and promised to
return the copies once they were cleared.


5. Independent Paper Seized Again

Border guards seized the entire print run of the second issue of
independent newspaper Narodnaya Volya (NV) on January 9. Editor-in-
Chief Joseph Seredich told reporters that the 27,000 copies, which
were printed in Smolensk and accompanied by proper documentation,
were seized and taken to the district police station in Dubrovno,
Vitebsk region. On January 12, Seredich received the seized cargo
after having a seven-hour conversation with police and convincing
them that the seizure was illegal. On January 3, NV's entire print
run of the first issue was seized, but released the following day
after the printing house in Smolensk delivered a missing document.


6. Murdered Journalist's Son Remains in Jail

Minsk's Pervomaisky district judge on January 10 denied a request
to release the son of murdered journalist Veronika Cherkasova
before his trial. Anton Filimonov, 16, was arrested on December 27
for counterfeiting. He reportedly admitted to making several 5,000
and 10,000-rubel bills with friends to see who had the better
computer. Out of all the boys involved in the scheme, Filimonov
was the only one who remained in custody. According to his
grandparents, unidentified persons repeatedly visit Filimonov and
try to persuade him to confess to killing his mother in October

2004. Investigators dropped Filimonov as a suspect because of lack
of evidence and the Minsk City Prosecutor's office suspended the
probe for lack of suspects.


7. Amendments Are Legal?

On January 11, the Constitution Court refused to examine the
legality of the amendments to the Criminal Code that provide jail
santences for activities deemed revolut)onary. The Belarusian
Association of Journalists (BAJ) filed the appeal fearing that the
amendments could be used against the independent media. The
Court's reply, dated December 29, claimed that the Court could not
examine the legality of the amendments since they had not yet been
signed into law or were in force. The amendments came into force
on January 1. BAJ lawyer Andrei Bastunets accused the Court of
avoiding a decision by hiding behind a technicality and assured
that the BAJ would file another appeal.


8. Activist Detained

Human rights activist Alex Abramovich was detained on January 11 in
front of the Presidential Administration building as he held a
placard that read "Elections Without Dictator Lukashenko." Other
human rights activists and reporters were to gather in front of NV
headquarters and march to the Presidential Administration to
protest the authorities' second seizure of NV. Poloffs in

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observance did not witness any such gathering. On Jantary 12,
Abramovich was sentenced to seven dayr in jail.


9. Lebedko Travel Ban

On Januarx 11, ind%pendent online news source BelaPan reported that
the Visa and Passport Department denied Anatoly Lebedko, leader of
the United Civic Party (UCP),a foreign travel stamp under the
pretext that the BKGB had not granted permission. After publicly
airing his protest, Lebedko received his foreign travel stamp on
January 17, but it was valid for only two years and not three as
requested. Lebedko did not know the official reasoning behind the
incident, but believes it was due to his political activities.
Although the UCP office reported that the ban prevented Lebedko
from traveling abroad, the UCP leader traveled to Vilnius on
January 14 using an old passport. According to one version of the
story, Lebedko's alleged travel ban was due to the fact that his
passport had no space for visas, let alone a travel stamp.


10. Pensioners Denied Association

On January 11 the Minsk city government rejected a second
application submitted by pensioners seeking permission to hold a
founding convention for their association. The pensioners, who
support democratic change, petitioned the government to designate a
hall for the gathering, but authorities replied that the pensioners
did not indicate their previous employment on the application nor
who would pay for security, ambulance, and cleaning services. The
group plans to seek a venue in a neighboring country.


11. Student Not Welcomed Back to School

The Ministry of Education (MoE) dismissed an appeal to reinstate
student Tatiana Khoma in the State Economic University (SEC).
Khoma, a fourth-year student, was expelled in November after
attending a National Unions of Students of Europe conference in
France and being elected to its executive committee. The MoE sent
a letter to Khoma listing the 14 80-minute classes she missed in
the first semester of the 2004-2005 academic year, 23 classes in
the second semester, and 11 classes in the first semester of the
2005-2006 academic year. Khoma plans to take the case to court.

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Civil Society
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12. Polish Radio in Belarus

On January 6, Polish PM Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz informed 10+
candidate Milinkevich that Poland would begin broadcasting radio
programs to Belarus ahead of the March elections. Milinkevich
considered the move "very important" in supplying Belarusians with
independent information. The broadcasts would include programs in
Belarusian and Polish languages.


13. Nazi March Uninterrupted

On January 9, independent internet news source BelaPan reported
that several dozen skinheads marched through Grodno shouting
obscenities and nazi slogans and attacking pedestrians. One
victim, Nikita Pavroz, told reporters that 30 skinheads marched
through the city's central square and beat him up after he tried to
restrain them. The march dispersed when police arrived. According
to Pavroz, it was the first skinhead march Grodno had seen in five
years. UBP activist and journalist Pochobut noted the rise in
activity among skinheads and neo nazis in Grodno, most notably the
appearance of Nazi graffiti on city streets. The police department
at the October district, where the march took place, claimed they
were not aware of any such march.


14. No Private Doctors in Public Hospitals

On January 11, the Ministry of Health (MoH) banned state-employed
doctors from holding a second job at private medical institutions.
According to a MoH department head, the crucial decision has no
alternative - one either chooses to work for the state or for the
private sector. The official noted that, "if a doctor does not
like his/her job conditions at a private institution, he/she is
welcome to work with a state one." In 2005, 700 district doctors
left state medical institutions to work in the private sector. The
official added that private health clinics had a good future ahead
of them and due to people's rising income, the ministry's ban would
not affect them.


15. Russian TV Re-opens Bureau In Minsk

The Belarusian Embassy in Moscow announced on January 12 that the
Belarusian Council of Ministers would allow the Russian State
Television and Radio Company (RSTRC) to reopen its office in Minsk.
The GOB closed the office in July 2004 after it allegedly
misreported the number of participants in an opposition protest.

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Authorities accused the RSTRC of disseminating false information
that insulted Belarusian citizens and had a negative effect on
Belarus' image. RSTRC expects to get its Belarusian accreditation
within two weeks.


16. MPs Want Internet Control

In a January 11 session of Parliament's human rights and national
relations committee, MPs decided it was necessary to create a
"legal" framework for several internet sources. According to the
MPs, internet media sources and their functions should be specified
by law. State-controlled newspaper Narodnaya Gazeta and wire
service BelTA participated in the meeting. The MPs concluded that
the legal regulations for Belarus' media was outdated and contained
many "gaps." The Information Ministry was continuing its work on a
new mass media law, though its preparation had been prolonged.

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Economy
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17. GOB Nationalizes Motorcycle Plant

On January 9, President Lukashenko signed an ordinance to support
Belarus' "privately-owned" motorcycle and bicycle factory Motovelo
in exchange for 99.9 percent of its shares. Lukashenko plans to
restructure the company's USD 978,000 debt by increasing the fund
of the company by the total sum of the debts. The state would
repay Motovelo's USD 4.9 million in utilities in return for a
transfer of shares to the state. Belpromstroybank will loan
Motovelo USD 1.4 million to purchase materials and components and
the Minsk city administration would provide Motovelo USD 4 million
in subsidies for 2006 and an additional USD 4 million in 2007.
Motovelo will transfer shares to each entity in return for the
loans. In November, 150 workers went on strike after not receiving
monthly wages. In 2005, Motovelo posted USD 4.1 million in losses.


18. .And Yet Another Plant

Lukashenko on January 10 signed another ordinance granting the GOB
a greater stake in the joint stock Gorodeya Sugar Refinery. The
company plans to issue additional shares, equal to the sum of their
USD 8 million debt in equipment purchases, giving the GOB a 99.9
percent stake. Gorodeya Sugar Refinery was established in 1956 and
turned into a joint-stock company in 1995. In 2004, the refinery
broke even with USD 80 million in revenues and USD 76 million in
expenses. In 2003-2004, budget funds and preferential loans to the
refinery reached USD 18 million. In 2005-2006, the refinery would
have to export no less than 90,000 tons of white sugar (processed
from last year's sugar beet harvest) to break even.


19. Belarus Wants In WTO

After a January 13 meeting with Amina Mohamed, chair of the WTO
General Council representative of Kenya in the UN, Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sergei Martynov announced that the next round of
talks on Belarus' accession to the WTO would be in February.
Martynov opined it was too early to speculate the possible date of
Belarus' accession to the WTO, though Belarus would "do everything
possible" to speed up the process. The minister noted that customs
regulations and the "golden share" were issues that needed to be
settled and hoped no others would emerge. According to Martynov,
Belarus planned to finish bilateral negotiations with WTO members
and hoped to sign agreements with 15 to 20 countries. Currently,
Belarus has bilateral agreements with only five countries,
including China and Turkey. Mohammed noted that Belarus was at an
"advanced" stage of WTO accession and claimed that the long
negotiations were necessary to ensure that Belarus fully complied
with WTO standards.

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Military
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20. Algerian Military Shipment

The Middle East Newsline agency reported on January 10 that Belarus
and Algeria were discussing a USD 1.5 billion arms deal. According
to the article, Algeria plans to buy MiG-29 aircraft from Belarus
at a lower price than what Russia offered. Belarus Defense
Minister Leonid Maltsev made a visit to Algeria to discuss
bilateral military cooperation. The Algerian defense ministry told
reporters that Belarus offered "everything," from training in
weapons development to production. Belarusian officials were not
available for comment.

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Anti-U.S. Propaganda
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21. U.S. Created The Bird Flu

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On January 9, Belarusian National Television (BT) aired a program
entitled Human Rights: Look At The World, hosted by Yevgeny
Novikov. Novikov accused the U.S. of intentionally starting the
SARS, bird flu, and mad cow pandemics in order to damage Europe and
Asia's economies and conquer new market outlets. Novikov concluded
this because the U.S. has not yet had an outbreak. Such
"artificial" outbreaks in Asian and European countries, as Novikov
opined, served as pretexts for U.S.-led military invasions in some
of the afflicted nations in order to "defend the local population
from disease and installing U.S. world order."

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The Absurd
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22. Oxford's University Status in Question

The British Deputy Chief of Mission in Minsk told Econoff that a
Belarusian student had gained admission and a full scholarship to
study at Oxford. In 2005, the President issued a new law requiring
all students wanting to study abroad to first get permission from
the Ministry of Education (MoE). Before allowing the student to
leave for Oxford, the MoE doubted Oxford's existence and demanded
to see the university's original charter, not a copy. The British
DCM, caught by surprise, told the MoE that sending the charter of
the 900-year university to Belarus was out of the question.


23. Cambridge Names MP "International Professional of 2005"

MP and outspoken critic of the West Nikolai Cherginets told
independent online news source BelaPan that on December 29, the
International Biographical Center at Cambridge named him the
"International Professional of the Year 2005." The MP claimed to
have received a certificate and a medal for his achievements in
politics and called it "recognition of Belarus' progress."
According to the British DCM, the International Biographical Center
was really a publishing house where anyone can nominate a person
for an award. In addition, Cherginets had not been to the UK to
collect his "award." On January 10, the British Embassy issued a
statement denying that Cambridge had awarded Cherginets the prize.
"When informed of the reports, Cambridge University announced that
at the University level, there was no program of honoring
politicians in this way."

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Quote of the Week
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24. After his amateur hockey team won a tournament for the second
year in a row on January 9, Lukashenko warned all Belarus' Olympic
athletes about the upcoming Turin games.

"[Belarusian athletes] should feel shamed if they don't cheer our
people with excellent results. We've done everything possible for
them. That is why we are expecting good results."


25. During a trip to Vitebsk, Lukashenko stated that he would not
allow any destabilization of Belarus and commented that the March
elections would not be falsified:

"We don't need to rig the vote. On the contrary, we are doing our
utmost to avoid any accusations, even accidental. We have
registered all [contenders] and are nearly collecting signatures
for them, but they are still complaining. Is the government getting
in anybody's way? It is not."

KROL