US embassy cable - 05MINSK1406

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 001406 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, ECON, BO 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - November 18, 2005 
 
REFS:  A) Minsk 1387;  B) Minsk 1348 
 
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.  State Distribution Lists Cuts Eleven Independent 
Newspapers 
 
On November 15, Belarusian state postal service provider RUP 
Belpochta removed six more independent newspapers from the 
list of periodicals available for subscription in 2006, 
including "Gazeta Slonimskaya," "Vitebskiy Courier," "Brest 
Courier," "Volnaye Glybokaye," "IntexPress" (Baranovichi), 
and "Nasha Niva."  On November 18, Belpochta also excluded 
the independent monthly "Molodezhny Prospect."  The 
additional exclusions occurred just days after Belpochta's 
decision to cut "Narodnaya Volya," "Salidarnasts," "Zhoda," 
and Molodechno-based "Regionalnaya Gazeta" from the state 
subscription list (ref A). 
 
3.  Suspended Paper Back in Business 
 
On November 11, the biweekly independent newspaper 
"Birzha Informatsii" resumed publication after a one- 
year suspension resulting from a critical article it 
published on the passage of Lukashenko's constitutional 
referendum.  The editor will distribute the newspaper 
free of charge via volunteers because she has little 
hope that the state distribution and newsstand 
organizations Belpochta and Belsoyuzpechat, 
respectively, will carry it. 
 
4.  Vitebsk Police Detain Milinkevich 
 
On November 16, Vitebsk traffic police detained 
opposition presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich 
and his entourage for 40 minutes, as they were on their 
way to campaign in Polotsk.  The police explained that 
their three cars might be on a stolen vehicle list. 
Milinkevich considered the harassment to be an 
intentional act of the local authorities to interfere 
with his trip. 
 
5.  Milinkevich's Associate Detained at Customs 
 
On November 11 at the Lithuanian border, Belarusian 
customs officials detained Viktor Korniyenko, 
Milinkevich's campaign advisor, for nearly an hour.  The 
officials thoroughly searched his car and baggage.  This 
is the first time Korniyenko has received such scrutiny 
but he credited it to his opposition work. 
 
6.  Film Crew Prevents Opposition Member's Detention 
 
After presidential hopeful Aleksandr Milinkevich met 
with university students in Baranovichi on November 11, 
police tried to detain his associate, Aleksei 
Yanukovich.  The police approached Yanukovich and 
instructed him to get in the police vehicle.  When the 
authorities noticed a film crew nearby, however, they 
abandoned their efforts to detain the opposition member. 
 
7.  Local Church Loses Registration 
 
On November 9, GOB authorities refused to register a 
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad village parish after its 
recent conflict with the local Moscow Patriarchate 
diocese.  Orthodox communities not based in Moscow can 
only receive state registration with the approval of the 
local Moscow Patriarchate bishop, who told the village 
parish to worship at the local Moscow Patriarchate 
Church instead.  The village parish refused and has 
received four fines for conducting worship in private 
homes over the past year. 
 
8.  Police Seize 72 Copies of Opposition Party's Weekly 
 
On November 11, police seized 72 copies of the 
Belarusian Party of Communists' weekly newspaper 
"Tovarishch" because of an illegal leaflet insert. 
Police charged Mariya Bogdanovich, the activist who was 
distributing the newspapers, with illegal production and 
distribution of press. 
 
9.  Court Annuls Already-Served Jail Sentence 
 
On November 14, the Supreme Court annulled the 15-day 
 
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jail sentence of Union of Belarusian Poles activist 
Tadeusz Gawin.  Gawin was serving a sentence in early 
August for participating in an unauthorized 
demonstration when he received another 15-day sentence 
for allegedly starting a fight with a cellmate.  The 
Supreme Court annulled the second sentence - even though 
Gawin already served it in August - after Gawin filed an 
appeal.  Gawin maintained the second sentence was a 
trumped up charge used to prevent him from attending the 
repeat Union of Belarusian Poles' convention. 
 
10. Police Seize Religious Literature 
 
On November 15, authorities seized religious literature, 
including copies of the New Testament, from a street 
library run by the unregistered Baptist Council of 
Churches in Bobruisk.  While the authorities stressed 
that no action has been taken and no court case has been 
launched, they could not say when or if the materials 
would be returned. 
 
11. No Travel for You 
 
On November 15, Grodno police banned Union of Belarusian 
Poles (UBP) activist Jozef Porzecki from traveling 
abroad.  The police claimed it was necessary to cancel 
his foreign travel stamp because Porzecki was a suspect 
in a criminal case.  Porzecki is the second UBP member 
to have his travel stamp annulled and one of many 
activists whom the GOB has recently prevented from 
traveling abroad (ref B). 
 
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Civil Society 
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12. GOB Mandates Private Schools Follow State Line 
 
On November 15, Education Minister Alyaksandr Radzkow 
announced that the heads of all educational 
institutions, including private institutions, are 
political figures and should follow the state line; 
therefore, opposition figures should not be allowed to 
occupy such positions.  Radzkow opined that his right as 
Education Minister to appoint and dismiss the heads of 
private educational institutions is "well-justified." 
 
13. Overturning Cases Undermines Trust in Courts 
 
On November 15, Supreme Court Chairman Valentin Sukalo 
stated the Supreme Court's decision to overturn 1.5 
percent of cases it hears undermines the people's trust 
in the legal system.  He considered bureaucracy to be 
the main flaw in people's trust in the system.  He noted 
that the judicial system is becoming milder and cited 
the statistic that only 25 percent of defendants are 
given prison sentences. 
 
14. Cold Snap, not Avian Flu Caused Death of Doves 
 
On November 10, veterinary officer Viktor Karpovich 
announced that the two-dozen dead doves found earlier 
that month at the Brest airport died from a sudden frost 
and not avian flu.  Although doves usually do not perish 
from changes in weather, these doves bred late and were 
small and thin.  Authorities killed five other birds to 
test for avian flu and found no positive cases. 
 
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Election 
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15. Political Party Law Further Limits Opposition 
Activities 
 
On November 14, the National Assembly announced it would 
examine the activities of political parties following 
the October 28 enactment of a new law on political 
organizations.  This controversial law not only allows 
courts to ban political party activities for six months, 
but it also prohibits parties from accepting donations 
from "foreign citizens, states, organizations and 
stateless persons, anonymous donors, legal minors, 
religious organizations and legal entities" registered 
for less than twelve months. 
 
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Economics 
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16. Belarus Purchases Power from Ukraine 
 
MINSK 00001406  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
On November 14, the Ministry of Energy announced plans 
to purchase up to 2.5 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh) of 
electric power from Ukraine every year.  This purchase 
would supply half of the necessary 5 billion kWh that 
Belarus must import every year.  [Note: Russia is 
Belarus' other energy supplier.]  The energy would be 
transferred from the Rovenskaya and Zaporozhskaya 
nuclear power stations via newly reinstalled power lines 
that had been disabled after the 1986 accident at the 
Chernobyl nuclear power station. 
 
17. Belarusian Customs Seized Meat Shipments 
 
On November 3, Belarusian customs seized a 32.5-ton 
shipment of meat valued at BYR 145 million [USD 68,000] 
destined for Russia from Poland because of a discrepancy 
on the inventory list.  Separately on November 16, 
customs officials looking for contraband seized an 
American-origin shipment of over 19 tons of chicken legs 
valued at BYR 110 million [USD 21,000] as it transited 
Belarus from St. Petersburg to Smolensk.  Authorities 
claimed the shipment lacked proper documentation from 
the head Belarusian veterinarian.  However, immediately 
after confiscation Belarusian customs transferred the 
chicken legs to a meat processing plant in Vitebsk for 
packaging and sale in Belarus, with the proceeds going 
to the state. 
 
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Quote of the Week 
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18. On November 10, the state owned newspaper 
"Sovetskaya Belarus" commented on the situation in 
Europe after the French riots: 
 
"Politicians in present-day Europe prefer to behave like 
[those on a] suicide [mission], recklessly flirting with 
hungry pterodactyls craving prey.  Their favorite sport 
is to export democracy.  For instance, to Belarus..." 
 
KROL