US embassy cable - 05MINSK1235

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 001235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ECON, BO 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - October 6, 2005 
 
 
1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled 
by Embassy Minsk over the past week. 
 
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Human Rights 
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2.  Fines, Fines and More Fines 
 
On September 30, a Belarusian court ordered the nation 
wide independent weekly newspaper BDG Delovaya Gazeta to 
pay BYR 50 million [USD 23,250] to a former riot police 
officer for "moral loss" in a libel case.  The 
journalist that wrote the story has to pay the claimant 
an additional BYR 5 million [USD 2,325].  Separately, on 
October 3, a court fined the editors of the private 
independent newspaper Zhoda BYR 2.5 million [USD 1,300] 
for pasting pictures of prominent political figures in 
classical paintings in their publication. 
 
3.  Stricter Travel Regulations 
 
On October 5, President Lukashenko introduced a decree 
that further limits the ability of students to travel 
abroad.  Now only elementary students who are 
accompanied by a teacher can travel to the U.S. for a 
period of more than 15 days.  The decree also mandates 
that several GOB ministries, including the Department of 
Humanitarian Affairs, must be informed immediately if 
any student has not come back to Belarus within 24 hours 
of their scheduled return date. 
 
4.  Travel Stamps Required to Go Abroad 
 
On October 4, the Belarusian Constitutional Court ruled 
the Soviet-era foreign-travel permit system will remain 
intact indefinitely, despite complaints from citizens 
that the system infringes on their constitutional right 
to travel freely.  As it stands now, Belarusians have to*QQQQpJUQat it is the duty of the 
Ministry to "ensure that the educational process is not 
politicized."  This statement followed from the GOB May 
directive ordering educational institutions to 
investigate and possibly expel students who participate 
in unauthorized political opposition demonstrations and 
punish them with expulsion.  The Minister does not 
consider this directive an infringement on the students' 
constitutional rights. 
 
6.  Deutsche Welle Is On The Air 
 
On October 3, Deutsche Welle - the winner of the 
European Commission's one-year radio contract - started 
broadcasting its 15-minute analytical radio program 
entitled "Belarusian Chronicles" three times an evening 
Monday through Friday.  Deutsche Welle noted that the 
program is not a mouthpiece for the opposition to 
advocate the overthrow of Lukashenko; instead, it is 
intended to provide information to free-thinking 
Belarusians and to fill-in the information gap resulting 
from the closure of independent newspapers. 
 
7.  Police Detain Youth Activist for Leaflet 
Distribution 
 
On October 3, the police detained 19 year-old activist 
and member of the environmental group "For a Clean 
Barysaw!" Andrey Malasay for distributing the Euronews 
TV channel program listings. The police confiscated 330 
leaflets from Malasay and brought him to the station 
where he was fingerprinted and videotaped while offering 
testimony. 
 
8.  No KGB Harassment Here 
 
On October 3, a GOB prosecutor dismissed a complaint 
from a local NGO accusing the Committee for State 
Security (KGB) of harassing a free-lance journalist. 
The journalist had traveled to Prague with a delegation 
to familiarize itself with local self-government 
agencies.  Upon his return from the Czech Republic, the 
KGB summoned the journalist to their offices and 
questioned him about the details and purpose of his 
trip.  Citing the constitutional right to travel, the 
NGO considered the interrogation of the journalist to be 
 
MINSK 00001235  002 OF 003 
 
 
harassment. 
 
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Civil Society 
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9.  Another Explosion in Vitebsk 
 
On October 4, another explosion occurred in the Vitebsk 
region near the border with Russia.  There were no 
reported casualties.  GOB authorities stressed that this 
incident - like the explosion in September - was an act 
of hooliganism, not terrorism. 
 
10. Lukashenko Is a Shoo-in for 2006 Election 
 
On October 3 at the opening session of parliament, House 
Speaker Vladimir Konoplyov expressed his confidence that 
"Lukashenko will take next year's election by a 
landslide margin," since the President enjoys huge 
support from both the urban and rural populace. 
Konoplyov used this opportunity to bash opposition 
candidate Alexander Milinkevich, stating that his 
nomination was a directive from the West. 
 
11. Paranoia About Supposed Propaganda War 
 
On October 1, Lukashenko informed his Security Council 
that the West is waging a propaganda war on Belarus in 
order to facilitate regime change.  Lashing out at 
Poland and the Baltics for hosting NATO sponsored 
foreign broadcasts, Lukashenko stressed that Belarus 
must protect its citizens "from foreign information 
onslaught and from instability sown by the anti- 
Belarusian information sources." 
 
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Economics 
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12. The GOB Acquires Private Company Kovry Bresta 
 
On October 5, the GOB agreed to assume the BYR 15.7 billion 
[USD 7.3 million] debt of Kovry Bresta OJSC (Brest Carpets) 
and thereby increased the percentage of government ownership 
in the company from 0.003% to 99.73%.  [Note: The government 
take over of Kovry Bresta is the latest in a trend by the 
GOB to nationalize private companies.] 
 
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Bilateral Relations 
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13. Trouble Crossing the Polish-Belarusian Border 
 
On October 2, Belarusian customs officials prevented two 
Polish parliamentarians from entering Belarus to attend 
the opposition congress because of problems with the 
vehicle's registration. [Note: The car was registered in 
the wife of the driver's name, but not the driver's 
name].  On October 5, Polish authorities prevented 
former Union of Belarusian Poles (UBP) leader Tadeusz 
Kruczkowski from entering Poland, citing that he 
presented a threat to the country's security.  The GOB 
had supported Kruczkowski during the leadership dispute 
in the UBP. 
 
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Anti-U.S. 
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14. U.S. Embassy Conscripts Belarusians to Fight in 
Iraq, State Media Reports 
 
On October 4, Belarusian television evening program 
"Panorama" accused the U.S. Embassy in Minsk of 
recruiting Belarusians to fight for the U.S. in Iraq. 
In an interview with the station, an unnamed former U.S. 
Embassy employee said that Embassy Minsk offered the 
Belarusians USD 2,500-3,500 salary per month and 
expedited immigration to the U.S. in exchange for 
service in Iraq.  Panorama journalists stated that the 
U.S. wants to enlist Belarusians in order to "plug holes 
in the anti-Iraq coalition with cannon fodder bought for 
a song in Belarus." 
 
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Quote of the Week 
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15. On October 1 in a message to his Security Council, 
 
MINSK 00001235  003 OF 003 
 
 
Belarusian President Lukashenko described Western 
efforts to enclose Belarus in a "circle of 
misinformation": 
 
"The West and the opposition are trying to unleash an 
ethnic and religious war in Belarus....We should keep in 
mind that all hostilities initiated by the U.S. over the 
past decade started from information interventions. 
Mass propaganda campaigns directed against a certain 
country were eventually followed by military attacks." 
 
KROL