KOZULIN'S PARTY PREPARES FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000887 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO SUBJECT: KOZULIN'S PARTY PREPARES FOR LOCAL ELECTIONS DESPITE HIS HEALTH PROBLEMS; EMBASSY SEEKS ACCESS Classified By: Charge Jonathan Moore for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Senior Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Gramada" (BSDP) members corroborated reports that the health of imprisoned BSDP leader and former presidential candidate Aleksandr Kozulin is degenerating, but insisted the BSDP has no plans to replace Kozulin as party leader. They characterized the recent cooperation between local chapters of BSDP and those of the opposition United Civic Party (UCP) and Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) as a central feature of BSDP local campaign strategy for the municipal elections planned for January 2007. They insisted that these regional agreements did not signify BSDP's formal integration into the United Democratic Forces (UDF) coalition. However, the senior BSDP party leaders did not rule out further unification of forces in the near future. An Embassy request for access to Kozulin in jail is still pending. End Summary. Kozulin's Condition Since the Verdict -------------- ¶2. (C) On August 7, Kozulin's wife, Irina Kozulina, told independent Belarusian media authorities had transferred Kozulin to Volodarskogo Street detention center in central Minsk after he was diagnosed with myopia and the cartilage disorder osteochondritis (see also "osteochondritis dissecans"). She blamed poor lighting in the Zhodino detention center, where Kozulin had been held prior to his trial, for Kozulin's myopia. (Note: During the July 28 meeting with Poloffs, Oleg Volchek attributed Kozulin's vision loss to head injuries inflicted by Belarusian authorities. End note.) ¶3. (C) BSDP senior member and human rights attorney Oleg Volchek reported to Poloffs on July 28 that the authorities had moved Kozulin to Panski prison outside Minsk. He noted that the move was surprising because most prisoners are not transferred to a different detention facility until the legal appeal processes are complete. Volchek explained that Panski prison is unusual among Belarusian prisons because the authorities maintain strict control of what happens inside the prison. In this respect, Panski prison could be safer for Kozulin, unless the authorities order his abuse. However, Volchek noted that Panski is notorious for spreading diseases, particularly TB, due to poor ventilation. (Note: On August 8, the Embassy sent a diplomatic note to the MFA requesting access to Kozulin in prison during the month of August; on August 11, MFA Counselor Pavel Pustovoy confirmed receipt, but no further response has been received. End note.) BSDP Legal Actions -------------- ¶4. (C) Volchek told Poloffs the BSDP has filed an appeal to Kozulin's sentence and is almost finished with its list of violations committed by the judge, prosecutors, and investigators in the case. Volchek's newly created public commission is collecting evidence that the court had refused to examine during the trial and plans to post the information on the BSDP website. The commission also is trying to find the birth dates and places of those involved in Kozulin's prosecution, including Judge Aleksey Rybakov and Prosecutor Sergey Bortnik (Volchek agreed to pass this information to the Embassy). According to Volchek, Rybakov has repeatedly claimed that he gave Kozulin the minimum sentence instead of the 20 years in prison as demanded by Belarusian law. (Note: On August 7, Volchek's commission publicly released its report that noted more than 30 procedural irregularities during the trial. End note.) ¶5. (C) Volchek and Kozulin informed Poloffs that BSDP is organizing a movement to free Kozulin and raise public awareness about Kozulin's fate. They observed that many Belarusians outside Minsk do not know about Kozulin's sentence and believe that he has been released. Volchek's commission is planning a project, for which he will seek USG support, to publish and distribute information about Kozulin throughout Belarus. BSDP Local Election Strategy Focuses on Regional Agreements -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) On July 28, Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP) Deputy Chair and de facto leader Aleksey Korol told Poloff that BSDP is not planning to replace Kozulin, despite rumors whose origins Korol ascribed to the imprisoned former BSDP activist Nikolai Statkevich. Korol maintained the party MINSK 00000887 002 OF 002 continues to function as if Kozulin were "merely on a business trip." He said BSDP's principal political focus would be on the local elections ostensibly scheduled for January. (Note: On August 2, BSDP Deputy Chairman Vladimir Nistyuk told independent media that BSDP plans to field 100 candidates. End note.) ¶7. (C) Throughout July and August, BSDP's local election strategy concentrated on cooperation with parties of the UDF coalition in regions outside Minsk. On July 19, the local chapters of the BSDP and the United Civic Party (UCP) signed accords for joint campaigns in Grodno and Brest. BSDP and UCP followed up with another such agreement between its chapters in Brest. On August 1, BSDP expanded its multi-party regional strategy by signing a tripartite cooperation agreement among BSDP, UCP and the pro-democratic Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) in the northern city of Mogilev. On August 8, BSDP and BPC chapters followed up with an agreement in Vitebsk. ¶8. (C) On August 10, Korol related to Poloff that the U.S. NGO National Democratic Institute had encouraged such regional cooperation agreements among parties to galvanize voter support for pro-democracy candidates and platforms in key regional cities. ¶9. (C) Korol also told Poloff that he had heard erroneous rumors that these agreements were within the framework of the opposition United Democratic Forces (UDF) coalition. Korol maintained that these local agreements were outside the UDF and that BSDP was not becoming a member of the opposition coalition. He described former opposition presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich as a very important symbol of the opposition but insisted that the opposition coalition must restructure itself before BSDP would join. Biographical Notes on Korol -------------- ¶10. (C) Aleksey Korol (alternate spelling: Aliaksei Karol) is BSDP Deputy Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the independent newspaper "Zgoda." He was born on May 29, 1945. Korol's son, Sergey, finished graduate school at Johns Hopkins University in August 2006 and lives with his wife, Irina, in Wilmington, Delaware. On July 28, Korol commented to Poloff that he might want to immigrate to the U.S. someday, if he were forced to choose between immigration and prison. ¶11. (C) Charge first met Korol on August 4 as Korol was attempting to enter a Minsk courthouse during the criminal trial against four leaders of the independent NGO "Partnership." Poloff was holding his umbrella over Korol as he spoke to Charge during a deluge of rain. The usually subdued but pleasant Korol laughed loudly, pointed up, and cheerfully said, "An important symbol: the American Embassy protects the opposition from the storm." Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) Korol's and Volchek's information regarding Kozulin's condition corroborates independent media accounts and reaffirms the importance of our request to see Kozulin sometime in August. Moreover, the conversations with Korol lend valuable insight into BSDP's strategy for the local elections. The close cooperation of BSDP with other opposition parties at the regional level probably will not produce many upsets, if any, in local races but could enhance the credibility of the opposition movement in the eyes of the Belarusian population. Although Korol stressed that BSDP does not coordinate its activities with the opposition coalition leadership, such cooperation at the regional level could be the first step toward BSDP's joining the coalition in the near future. Moore