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

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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