Posts Tagged ‘Alexander Lukashenko’
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.”
August 18th, 2011
Vladimir Yaromenok (Владимир Еременок, Уладзімер Яроменак), a
Belarusian political prisoner released on 13 August following President Alexander Lukashenko’s
pardoning of nine individuals convicted for the December 2010 protests in Minsk
has said he was tortured while in a KGB detention unit. Yaromenok, 20, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in a colony with the highest security regime in May for having helped organise and participate in mass riots. He served 15-day and seven-day terms at two separate prisons before being referred to a KGB detention unit.
August 12th, 2011
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has pardoned nine of the 41 people convicted for taking part in the December 19 protests that followed his higly disputed re-election. RFE/RL’s Belarus Service reported that the nine freed had requested an amnesty, admitted taking part in the demonstrations, and pledged not to engage in such activities again. Of the nine amnestied, four have been named as Dimitry Drozd, Artem Gribkov, Serguey Kazakov and Andrei Protasenya. Two more who are thought to have been released have been named as Vladimir Loban and Alexander Klafkovsky, while the names of the remaining three remain unknown.
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August 2nd, 2011
A draft law published in
Belarus on Friday
prohibits the “joint mass presence of citizens in a public place that has been chosen beforehand, including an outdoor space, and at a scheduled time for the purpose of a form of action or inaction that has been planned beforehand and is a form of public expression of the public or political sentiments or protest.” The draft adds that anyone proven to be taking part in such a gathering would be subject to 15 days of administrative arrest. The Belarusian government is continuing to develop various
methods of stifling
protest in the country. Demonstrators have been equally creative in finding ways to rally against President Lukashenko and the country’s economic crisis. In July,
clapping protests swept the nation, forcing the concurrent Independence Day military parade to be held in silence to avoid disruption.
July 5th, 2011
Over 300 people were reportedly arrested on Sunday in nationwide demonstrations against President
Alexander Lukashenko’s government. Teargas was also fired to disperse the crowd. Some journalists have claimed that they were targeted in the attacks in a bid to prevent them from filming or taking photographs. In the capital, Minsk, the crowds attempted to disrupt Lukashenko’s Independence Day by
clapping their hands.
April 28th, 2011
On Wednesday (27 April) authorities in
Belarus closed two independent newspapers, Nasha Niva and Narodnaya Volya. The Information Ministry said it acted after
repeatedly warning both newspapers over their political coverage in the last year. In a separate incident yesterday (27 April), opposition leader Dimitry Bondarenko was found
guilty of organising a rally in December to protest the election results which extended President Alexander Lukashenko’s term in office. The court has sentenced him to two years in prison.
March 30th, 2011
After a performance in the House of Commons in support of Belarus’s imprisoned opposition activists and journalists, Denis MacShane warns the leaders of Europe’s last dictatorship that justice plays a long game
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March 29th, 2011
Belarusian politician Ales Mikhalevich has been
granted political refugee
status in the Czech Republic. He was
imprisoned after
running against Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus’ presidential elections. He claims that he was tortured in the custody of secret police, and was stripped naked and hung by his hands. Mikhalevich was one of the seven other candidates
arrested during pro-democracy protests which saw more than 700 people detained.
