Posts Tagged ‘Alexander Lukashenko’

Belarus: European ministers meet activists

December 8th, 2011

UK’s Europe Minister David Liddington visits Human Rights House Viasna alongside Index on Censorship; Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore emphasizes NGO involvement

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Merkel and Clegg raise Belarus banking concerns

September 30th, 2011

The German chancellor and UK Deputy Prime Minister pledged more action on Belarus’s human rights abuses at a Warsaw summit

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Belarus: Top journalist ‘barred from leaving Belarus’

September 28th, 2011

A journalist who was found guilty of defamation in Belarus has been barred from leaving the country. Andrzej Poczobut, a Polish-Belarusian journalist who writes for top daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, was found guilty of defaming President Alexander Lukashenko in July, and was given a three-year suspended sentence. Poczobut claims he was recently summoned to a police station in  Homel, where he was instructed that as a convict he has no right to travel abroad. Poczobut wrote in his blog regarding the travel ban: “That is not mentioned either in my verdict or in the Criminal Code.”

Civil society versus Europe’s last dictator

September 28th, 2011

British lawyers have launched an innovative “prosecution kit” which gives citizens throughout the world the tools to pursue Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko through the courts. Matthew Jury explains

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Belarus: Journalist convicted of defaming Lukashenko loses appeal

September 21st, 2011

A journalist convicted of defaming the president of Belarus has lost his appeal. Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut from Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza was found guilty of the defamation of President Alexander Lukashenko in July, and the Hrodna Oblast Court in western Belarus upheld the verdict against him yesterday. Poczobut was given a three year prison sentence, suspended for two years. The journalist argued that his rights were violated during the trial by KGB investigators and the prosecutor’s office.  Poczobut said he would continue appealing the conviction throughout the system, up to and including the UN.  

Belarus: 11 more political prisoners pardoned

September 14th, 2011

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has today pardoned 11 more political prisonerssentenced for taking part in anti-government protests on 19 December 2010. The full list of names is not yet known, but Index believes that activists Pavel Vinogradov and Fyodor Mirzayanov are among those released. Around five others remain in prison. A government press release stated that Lukashenko had been “guided by the principles of humanity”. In August, The Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it will no longer engage in “any type of capital-raising” on behalf of the government of Belarus after an Index on Censorship and Free Belarus Now campaign.

Lukashenko’s Soviet mercenaries

September 5th, 2011

Belarus is Europe’s last dictatorship. Andrej Dynko explains how the country’s president Alexander Lukashenko retains his tight grip on power

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Belarus: President orders controlled internet access in educational institutions

August 31st, 2011

Internet access in educational institutions must be under control, said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as he addressed educators on 29 August. Lukashenko said they and teachers should pay close attention to communication among young people online, primarily on social networks, which he labelled “a dangerous weapon” that could be used for “destructive purposes.”