Michael Batiukov

In one of his speeches during presidential elections 2010 Andrey Sannikov said: "We, Belarusian citizens, under the Constitution have a right to change authorities and freely elect our leaders. Even in today´s Constitution formalizes the principle of priority of the international law over the internal one, and international law does not allow fraudulent elections. The law is on our side in these elections. People are waiting for changes, as they had never been waiting for them in the last 16 years of the dictatorship. And it means that we have a chance to celebrate the New Year in a completely different, democratic Belarus." Unfortunately it did not happen and it turned out that Andrey Sannikov celebrated New Year 2011 in jail in the same dictatorial Belarus. The year 2011 was a very special year for the Belarusian opposition which is totally crashed. It is very possible to say that it does not exist anymore. There is total information silence inside Belarus and total information silence outside Belarus about what´s going on. Belarus dictatorship turned into a complete rotting swamp where any political opponent, any dissent can disappear any second in a complete information vacuum. As for a former 2010 presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov, his lawyers and relatives have not seen him since November 8, 2011. As Sannikov´s wife, Iryna Khalip, told BelaPAN news agency earlier, lawyer and relatives have still be trying to gain a meeting with him, but without success.

It is not enough anymore for the Belarusian regime to put people in jail, they want to destroy, to kill them. What caused that Statkevich who is in jail already to be re-sentenced to 3 years in prison? Why did the authorities are in no hurry to release political prisoners? The answer is simple. Andrey Sannikov and Mikalai Statkevich were two most promising presidential candidates. And Aleksandr Lukashenko knows about it. He got only 38% in the first round of the election and all opposition candidates got 42%. Sannikov and Statkevich were the most promising candidates with about 15-20% of votes. That´s why he hates them so much! Because if it was a real democratic honest second round of presidential election back in December 2010 he would be kicked out from his post in no time by Sannikov or Statkevich. Because both of them have got support of most of the Belarusian people. That´s why a bloodthirsty dictator Lukashenko wants to kill them in 2012 one way or the other and crash all the rest of the political prisoners. What is different this time, this year is that dictator Lukashenko is not alone in his bloodthirstiness. He has an eldest son and his name is Victor Lukashenko. Almost nobody knows nothing about this young dictator. He is 36 and he is appointed as an Assistant to the President of Belarus on National Security. And this year 2012 the position of Victor Lukashenko was strengthened by the KGB and the Border Committee, then through the Information Analysis Center (or Cyber Security Center), and now through the Investigation Committee which was created in November last year. So everything is now passing into the hands of Viktor Lukashenko and his team.

Beginning in 1997, none of the results of elections conducted in Belarus had not been recognized by the international community. In 1999/2000, five of Lukashenko's political opponents were kidnapped and killed, or died under mysterious circumstances. Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe "Disappeared People in Belarus," argued that the deaths of political opponents of the regime had to do with the country's leadership, which created the "death squad" – a structure involved in political killings by the authorities´ orders. The last presidential elections held on Dec. 19, 2010, culminated in mass arrests, destruction of editorial offices of independent media, and imprisonment of six presidential candidates. In total, there were arrested and sentenced about 700 people. Among these, about 40 people were charged under criminal articles involving jail sentences from 5 to 15 years. And today, houses searches, arrests and interrogations continue across the country. In January of this year, EU countries, USA and Canada introduced political and economic sanctions against the Belarusian regime. Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, is obsessed with ice hockey. And, especially, not only, and not so much by the game itself, but much more by speculations on the sport subject. Skating-rinks and ice arenas have being built across the country, despite the fact that the vast majority of children cannot afford it - the average monthly salary in Belarus does not exceed $200. But the information has been broadcasting without stopping by all state TV channels and in all state newspapers that "big hockey supports Alexander Lukashenko." Huge amounts of money are invested in this campaign, because the popularity of the Belarusian dictator´s policy among the Belarus population has negligible support. A hockey jersey with the number "1" and the name "Lukashenko" is stored in the International Hockey Hall of Fame which was presented by the Belarusian authorities. On behalf of all Belarusians and all people of a good will of the World, we urge you to remove it from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Today, its presence there can be considered as an absolute anomaly. As if someone decided to put Adolf Hitler's paintings in a commemorative museum of those who had been killed during the Holocaust.

"The situation is the following: I can say definitely that his life is in grave danger. The life of the Young Front leader Zmitser Dashkevich is in grave danger as well. The latest news received by Andrey´s lawyer who visited him at the remand prison of Mahilyou is his message: "Save Dashkevich by all means, even if you have to write petitions for pardon by the entire Belarusian nation. Otherwise he has no chances to survive," the journalist told. During prison transfer which started on September 20 and still continues, Andryy Sannikov got into the same cell with Dashkevich. Another prisoner from that cell, Davydovich, said to Dashkevich that he would face great problems in the prison in Hlybokae (Glubokoe), and that most likely he is to be murdered there. "One and the only piece of good news is that Dashkevich has stopped hunger strike. My husband, Andrey, has told that Dashkevich is in terrible condition, he is extremely thin, he had no food as he had been deprived of the right to get food parcels in Horki penal colony," Iryna Khalip said. As Iryna Khalip told, later analogous threats directed against Andrey Sannikov were made. It happened later, in Mahilyou remand prison. A prisoner Hryhoryeu was placed into the cell of Sannikov there, and he told that while being escorted under guard, two persons in mufti came up to him and warned that he should be careful when staying in the same cell with Sannikov, as he could be "seriously injured or murdered". Other fellow inmates supported Hryhoryeu, Khalip says: "They started saying: yes, it´s true, Andrey, you would not get to Babrujsk. We are not going to kill you, but you must understand, there could be all kinds of provocations. You could be transferred to a different cell, where you could be beaten powerfully, or could be even killed. It´s easy to explain: prisoners have killed each other. Such things happen…"

How I was tortured? I was brought into a room in which two men in masks and rubber gloves were waiting for me, as they then said later on they were from a military intelligence unit. When I stepped inside they immediately without any conversation or questions raised me to the wall, hands behind my back, handcuffed me, put a plastic bag on my head and began to choke me. Then they put me on my stomach on the floor, and one of them sat on me, cut off my breathing with a bag, took my chin with both hands and began to stretch it as far as he could, I could not even make a sound, while the second guy stepped on me crushing my legs, bones, shoulders, pressing down on them so hard that it could be as painful as possible. And all this torture was accompanied by the humiliation of my personality, by psychological pressure, by threats to kill me or to torture my mother, accompanied by statements of some kind of paranoid conspiracy theories of anti-Semitic sense. I was beaten on my back, my stomach, and everything was done so that there wouldn´t be any traces or bruises. They beat me on the top of my head. They clamped my ring finger on my left hand with something and I feel the numbness of it until now. One of them took my Adam's apple with two fingers, clutched it and dragged it. After that it hurt to swallow even saliva. And of course they put on the stretch, almost to the splits, with handcuffs on my hands, and a plastic bag on my head, I stood like that for about 2-3 hours. And in this state I was interrogated, and then I had all my body so numb that they had to lift it, as I already could not move on my own. So, what did they want from me?

When court proceedings began, there was enough evidence showing that the results of the Belarusian presidential elections were falsified, none of the candidate gathered the number of votes necessary for the victory in the first round, a second round with my participation should have been held in accordance with the law. I have no doubts that my team and I would have won the vast majority of the votes in the second round. It was this that drove Lukashenka into a panic fear. He is still in this state. He continues to give unlawful orders to crack down on everyone who expresses his discontent. I think the judicial bodies were given such an order to crack down on me as a real opponent. It can be surprising that judges forgot about their professional duties, honour and morality. All trials held over peaceful participants of the December 19 demonstration showed the whole world the depth of professional and moral degradation of Belarusian judges. The Belarusian judicial system cannot be called other than feudal. Judges Khrypach, Kamarouskaya, Zaitsava, who considered my cassation appeal, continued this disgraceful practice.

"I believe that everything that is happening at the moment is a pre-planned large-scale operation by the government. All events since December 19th confirm it, including Lukashenko's speech during the election campaign when he warned that "we will put everybody in their places after the elections". This is also confirmed by the statements of Makei, the Head of the Administration when he talked about the alleged proof of the upcoming armed provocations from the opposition, with the use of pyrotechnics and explosives. In this case no evidence was presented, despite all investigations and operational surveillance conducted in particular in relation to me since summer of 2010. At that point, not only was I not a candidate but the decision to become a candidate was not yet announced. It is worth remembering the statement of the CEC Yarmoshyna, who publicly declared that the rights and immunity of the presidential candidates ends at 8pm on December 19th, rather than when the official results are announced. Thus, she in a way signaled to the police that they can do anything they want to the candidates. This was also confirmed by the actions of law-enforcement agencies. They initially did not stop people who were breaking the doors of the Government building and did not detain offenders. So they created a sense of impunity. This is confirmed by a promise from the authorities to release those who will testify against the opposition candidates. This was reaffirmed by the planned brutal crackdown on the peaceful protest when a large number of innocent civilians suffered injuries. It was also confirmed by a subsequent statement from Lukashenko who accepted responsibility for the actions of law enforcement agencies." - Andrey Sannikov, former presidential candidate now a prisoner.

Obviously after the mass repressions and the explosion in the Minsk subway, the Belarusians are paralyzed with fear. But they must fight the fear. Otherwise soon they all will die, too frightened to breathe. In his television statement before the election Andrey Sannikov said the words which should be recalled today: "The Belarusian people´s tolerance is truly legendary and is described in lots of stories and anecdotes, but it has its limits. And the history knows many occasions when the people took responsibility for the fate of their land. So why then have we tolerated this stupid, awkward dictatorship for so long? Lukashenko calls us the opposition. But he himself and his team – Drozdy dwellers (Drozdy – a luxurious residence area in the suburb of Minsk where Lukashenko and the highest Belarusian officials live) - became the opposition for a long time ago. It is them who are opposed to the Belarusian people. And we are not the opposition, we do not live behind the high fence of Drozdy, we live in our country and we are masters of our land. On December 19th, 2010 the most courageous men and the most beautiful women will come to the Square." And this is exactly what happened. The most courageous men and the most beautiful women came to the Square. Tens of thousands of brave Belarusians were there. But those who voted against the dictator actually are millions!

The plan of the dictator Lukashenko and his police regime is to pass severe sentences to the following SEVEN presidential candidates: Andrei Sannikov, Vladimir Neklliaev, Aleksei Mikhalevich, Vladimir Nekliaev, Vitaly Rymashevsky, Nikolai Statkevich, and Dmitry Uss and then start bargaining with the West. By harsh sentences the regime can show its uncompromising stand against any kind of alternative thinking. Dictator Lukashenko and his gang want to make it clear this time that no one would go unpunished in Belarus, so no one would fancy taking to the streets to protest. And the rest would happen as a backstage game with the West. We remember what was happening with Aleksander Kazulin, who was released from jail in 2008 and it thawed the relations between Belarus and Europe. There´s nothing new in Lukashenko´s game. He is not so smart to make it different.

"Amerikanka" (the name of the KGB jail in the center of Minsk) 1. On 10 January, 2011 the "guards" – people wearing black masks without identification marks – dragged me out of the cell, handcuffed me and lifted my arms up by handcuffs so as to lower me face down to the concrete floor. They dragged me down a spiral staircase to a basement room. After twisting my arms behind my back as far upwards as they would go, until my joints started cracking, they told me I needed to do everything requested of me. They kept my arms in this position for a long time and pushed them higher and higher until I said I would comply with all requests. The pre-trial detention centre personnel were not seen even in the corridors while this was going on. 2. Systematically, 5-6 times a day, we were taken out "to be searched" – for a body search. During this, we were made to stand naked in a "stretch vice": our legs were tripped up, forcing them to be stretched almost to a full split. When our legs were tackled, I felt the ligaments breaking, it was difficult to walk after this procedure. We were made to stand naked about one meter away from the wall, the masked people forcing us to lean with our hands against the wall. In a room in which the temperature did not exceed 10°C (50°F), we were kept this way for 40 minutes until our hands were getting swollen. Several times I was ordered to put my hands on the wall with my palms facing upwards and to remain standing in this position.

On February 9, 2011 in Minsk, Belarus dictator Lukashenko has awarded five chief policemen for beating badly peaceful protesters on December 19, 2010. Five members of the Minsk militia were presented with the letters of appreciation with his signature. These letters were awarded to Colonel Igor Evseev, colonel Alexander Lukomskiy, colonel Victor Skurat, major Sergey Ivanov and Roman Kadin. "At this crucial historical period, it is very important for me to lean on support of people like you - a true patriots, caring and loyal with warm hearts. Thank you for civic courage and active position in life "- says the message of the dictator in the letters of appreciation. Meantime the Case of the Mass Protests in Minsk on December 19, 2010 (Bloody Sunday, as they call this day in Belarus) continues to grow as a snowball. On the list of defendants already 43 people, including seven ex-presidential candidates. Three former contestants - Andrey Sannikov, Aleksei Mikhalevich and Nikolai Statkevich still under arrest in KGB prison. Searches and arrests in Belarus continue every day. KGB investigators had already visited many opposition activists several times. Human rights activists have told of torture and violence against opposition.

The same day in Minsk the dictator Lukashenko ordered to his puppet government to deal with the EU and the U.S. sanctions with the toughest response. "No one is allowed to oppress and block our country - whether it's a separate group of countries or even the whole European Union", - stressed Alexander Lukashenko. According to him, "today we should consider carefully all measures to protect our sovereignty, economic and geopolitical interests. In this connection Lukashenko stated that he is waiting from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Some concrete proposals to combat anti-Belarusian campaign abroad. " So-called president stated that "enemies of our country started a powerful attack from outside, foreign media launched a fierce information campaign against our country." "We are threatened by sanctions. So what? We have already tried this. If Europe, America and some people still want to do the same mistake again - the Lord be with them. If the Europeans who are so zealously protecting our scumbags [ former presidential candidates, M.B. ] and their lives, they do it just to sell their so called democracy within EU and each country. Well, today the Europeans do not have their own problems? Above the roof! Americans do not have their own problems? Fix your own problems first!"- Lukashenko shared his thoughts with his accomplices.

This time Europe's response to events of December 19th, 2010 should be different because "is not caused only by the fact of election fraud (falsifications were before) and not only by the wave of repressions after the elections (repressions were before either). The position of European society should be influenced by the fact that unlike in the past years everyone is convinced today: the majority of Belarusians voted against Lukashenko" - Ivashkevich said. "Earlier, everyone said: yes, it was fraud, but Lukashenko has scored well, maybe, not 80%, but at least 60%. Today there is a belief, and numbers, and arguments that this time Lukashenko has not collected required 50% plus one vote to win during the first round the presidential elections"- the politician said.

On January 2nd, 2011 the Human Rights Center Viasna (Spring) expressed its strong protest against the beginning of the terror campaign in Belarus towards dissidents and political opponents of the government with the following statement [see the article]... More than 200 people are still kept in prison, serving administrative arrests for participation in the protest rally in Minsk on December 19th, 2010 and the subsequent actions of solidarity with political prisoners. More than 700 people have been arrested or fined for last ten days. List of People Arrested on December 19th, 2010 in Minsk, Belarus: http://budurl.com/ArrestedOnDec19 [ in Belarusian language] Human Rights Center Viasna is particularly concerned with information about the use of torture, psychological pressurization of detainees and the absence of medical care. The Human Rights Centre Viasna urges the governments of the European Union, the United States and international organizations to condemn the repression and massive human rights violations in Belarus and to take all possible measures for their immediate cessation.

The reason of the crackdown on the opposition leaders, activists and journalists was a peaceful mass protest rally on December 19, 2010 in Minsk. Belarusian citizens were outraged by the shocking fraud in the presidential election, with the help of which the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko tried to stay in power. It has been informed by "Viasna" (Spring) Human Rights Center that as of December 30th, 2010, 26 people have been joined to the officially so-called "mass riots" (or peaceful mass protest) criminal case in Minsk, Belarus.Almost nothing is known about the prisoners of the KGB jail. Lawyers have signed non-disclosure obligations. But even without that one can guess that rights of the arrested are violated. A lawyer of Uladimir Neklyaev, a presidential candidate, was allowed to visit him only after a week. Before that there was no information about whereabouts and state of health of the poet. Nothing is known about the state of health of Andrey Sannikov, a presidential candidate. He had been brutally beaten up, his leg was injured. Natallia Radzina, an editor of charter97.org, did not get any medical assistance. As the lawyer of the journalist informed, "She is still bleeding from her ears" from police beating. On December 29 charges are to be brought against most suspects. Here is the list of suspects:

To the Central Commission of Belarus for Elections and National Referendums To the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Belarus [Copies: to OSCE / ODIHR Election Observation 2010, CIS Observation Mission] APPLICANTS: Candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Neklyaev Candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus Gregory Kostusev RATIONALE: on recognizing the election of the President of the Republic of Belarus 2010 null and void Numerous documents attached to this complaint testify as the evidence of gross violations of Laws of the Republic of Belarus at all stages of the electoral process. These violations significantly influenced the preparation of presidential elections in Belarus, their conduct and the outcome of the vote. The election campaign was held across Belarus with violations of national legislation and international standards – especially presidential elections did not meet the standards of the Copenhagen document of the CSCE (1990) [http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/1990/06/13992_en.pdf] and the obligations of the Republic of Belarus in this field, which eventually led to a regular (2001, 2006) falsification of the results of the elections. We are taking into account the time shortage for appeal (only during 3 days after December 19th, 2010) and the detention of the Candidate for the President of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Neklyaev on December 19th along with six other presidential candidates. At this time we present detailed, but incomplete analysis of the major violations of Belarusian Law, in connection with which the election of the President Republic of Belarus in 2010 are considered to be invalid. 1. USURPATION OF POWER BY MR. LUKASHENKO AND HIS GOVERNMENT AND WITHHOLDING OF POWER BY UNCONSTITUTIONAL MEANS. ILLEGAL PARTICIPATION OF MR. LUKASHENKO IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2010.

Mr. Lukashenko, why you cannot return belarussians free elections? What are you afraid of? Prevailing over nine opponents who have no media access, no money, no mansions in their possession, no multi-billion dollar accounts abroad, seems easy enough even without cheating. Please, tell us, why do you need to cheat belarussians for so many years? 1994? 2001? 2006? To cheat, to steal, to kill. Why? Why, Mr. Grinch? You're a monster, Mr. Grinch. Your heart's an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders, You've got garlic in your soul. Mr. Grinch.

After 16 years in office, illegitimate President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko appeared headed for another five-year term in a controversial election Sunday, December 19th, 2010, that was quickly followed by violent late-night street clashes and accusations of vote fraud from human rights groups and opposition presidential candidates. Final results announced by the State's Central Election Commission indicated that Lukashenko received 79.7% of the vote, after 100% was counted. Nevertheless, exit-polls' data, conducted by EcooM experts, show that only 72% of people have voted for the current head of state. The second place has been given to Andrey Sannikov, followed by Vladimir Neklyaev (4-5% of the vote). Moreover, and what is interesting and, probably, close to real results of the elections is the exit-polls by TNS Ukraine which indicates that only about 40% of Belarusians voted for Lukashenko. According to TNS, Alexander Lukashenko, in the first round of the presidential elections in Belarus, gained less than 50% of votes. By the way, TNS Ukraine is officially registered by the Belarusian Central Election Commission. And according to TNS Ukraine, Lukashenka has got 42% of votes, followed by opposition candidate Vladimir Neklyaev with 17%, followed by Andrey Sannikov with 13% of votes. There is no surprise that another presidential elections in Belarus has evolved along with the old scenario; the voting was forged, once again the opposition was not allowed to take part in vote counting, observers witnessed numerous violations, many voters were forced by officials to take part in the pre-election, the candidates for President had no access to the television and other media - just like during the last 16 years. Non-Free Non-Fair Presidential Elections 2010 Confirmed Belarus as the Last Dictatorship in Europe.

There are four main ways of rigging the presidential elections in Belarus. All of them were used in presidential elections of 2001 and 2006. The first way is called "Ballot-Box Stuffing". This way is commonly used during early voting. This year presidential early voting in Belarus takes the whole week from December 13th up to December 18th, 2010. For six days (and nights) any Chairman of the Local Election Commission´s helpers can stuff the boxes with as many ballots as they need. Probably, about 75% for Mr. Lukashenko. This is how many votes he wants to get this year, right? How it may happen in practice you may ask? Easy! For example, in one ballot box is thrown 100 ballots with votes for 10 different candidates, and from the box poured 600 ballots with votes for only ONE candidate – the right one. Make a wild guess what is the name of the right candidate this year? It is no secret that ballot-boxes may have a false bottom. Belarus is widely used old-fashioned ballot-boxes with so many ways of unscrewing them and screwing votes. How Lukashenko can get 75% of votes without any magic tricks at his hands? Moreover, according to some sources back in 2006 every Chairmen of the Local Election Commissions who provided the correct amount of votes for the correct candidate were rewarded with $3000 bonus. Those who could not provide the correct amount of votes were fired later on.

"Rigging the election results is a grave crime, which distorts will expression of the nation. Belarusian citizens not only have a right to fight with the electoral fraud, but must stand against criminal falsifiers in every way. Under the Law Yermoshyna cannot be the chair of the Central Election Commission, in the same way as Lukashenko cannot be a candidate for presidency. Yarmoshyna stated that she is a member of Lukashenko´s team, thus excluding any objectivity in actions of the CEC. But it was not enough, and during her working hours she went to the illegal "All-People´s Congress" support her candidate. Lukashenko used dozens millions dollars from the budget to hold the event in his support on October Square. According to the official reports, at the moment of holding this congress his electoral fund had about 13 million Belorussian roubles. It is clear that the "All-Belarusian Congress" was held not out of the electoral fund of the candidate for presidency Lukashenko, as it is required by the law. This is FIFTH VIOLATION of the LAW! Once again as always Lukashenko slipped his hand into the pocket of Belarusians for his mercenary ends. Both Yermoshyna and Lukashenko have confirmed once again that Belarusians must change this corrupt regime quickly," a candidate for presidency in Belarus Andrey Sannikov stated.

On November 18th, 2010 in Minsk The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus has registered 10 people as candidates for the Belarus presidency. They are Gregory Kostusev, Alexander Lukashenko, Aleksei Mikhalevich, Vladimir Nekliaev, Yaroslav Romanchuk, Vitaly Rymashevsky, Andrei Sannikov, Nikolai Statkevich, Viktor Tereshchenko, and Dmitry Uss. To be successfully nominated as a presidential candidate a person must be a citizen of the Republic of Belarus by birth aged 35 or older. The candidate should be eligible to vote and permanently live in the Republic of Belarus for at least ten years before the elections. He should have no record of convictions.

Belarusian Journalist Oleg Bebenin Found Dead in His Summer Cottage. He was one of the founders and leaders of Charter97.org (opposition) website. The body of Oleg Bebenin was found on September 3rd, 2010 at 5.30 p.m. in his summer cottage not far from Minsk. It has turned out that during the initial inspection of the body a constriction mark was found on the neck of Bebenin, which can be a sign of both a suicide and of a violent death by suffocation or strangulation. It was very quickly stated by investigation agencies that it had been a suicide. The journalist reportedly hanged himself. However neither his family nor acquaintances believe this version and speak about a murder. Oleg Bebenin had vast plans, and he had not left a suicide note. Besides, the journalist was conducting investigation of activities of the so-called "death squadrons" and mysterious disappearances of Belarusian politicians. Meanwhile, the date of the presidential election is to be announced in Belarus soon.

It should be noted that Iran is second only after China in the number of capital punishments: in 2008, 226 people were executed. Public executions are very popular in the country, among them previously used stoning. In January 2008, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi imposed a ban on public executions, expect for those approved by him "in case of social need".

The vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights comments on the arrests in Minsk at 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights proclamation. "It is an unpleasant and disappointing fact, that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is banned for distribution in the c...

The office the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations informed Iryna and Valerya Krasouskaya that their claim had been registered in the UN Commission on Human Rights on November 16. As the press service of CIWR.ORG reports, Krasouskayas' claim was prepared by a Dutch law firm a...

Lech Kaczyński, the President of the Republic of Poland, has made several statements on the subject on air of Radio Bialystok on September 29. Polish president has stated that he does not believe transparency and democratic nature of the "parliamentary elections" in Belarus. L. Kaczyński noted that the "election" was a step in a right direction for Belarus, however, "A ballot is democratic only when the regime has no possibilities to control the process [of voting]. "When there are possibilities for control, it always signalize about danger, and means that there is no democracy," the Polish president said. To his mind, a process of changing ruling elites should take place in Belarus. "In other words, Lukashenko should be a person who understands that loss of power is not a failure, but it is normal," L. Kaczyński said. "But there are no signs that Lukashenko finds loss of power a normal process". The results of the "election" in 110 constituencies show none of the opposition figures has got to the "house of representatives".

Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is held completely by people under a free and fair electoral system. What happens if there is no free and fair electoral system? And what happens if the whole electoral system is controlled by the government. Who is controlling the government? Nobody! The main thing is when there is no democracy - there is no control by the people over the government's actions. Ask the people of Zimbabwe do they want to live with no food, no water and 2000000% inflation. Probably, they don't. And, probably, that's what can happen when people loose control over their government. So, when there is no control, there is no balance of power, there is no law, there is no opposition, no freedoms, no human rights, because two main principles of democracy are purposely destroyed by the government. The first principle is: all members of the society have equal access to power. And the second one is: all members of the society enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties. So, when people are separated from voting, or when they can vote for the government's candidates only, they are abused by the "tyranny" of the undemocratic dictatorial government. They are misinformed by the government's mass media and are not able to vote in their own personal interests. So, the dictatorial government does not care about people, and their votes, and their personal interests. The dictatorial government is pursuing their own personal interests and can easily falsify the results of any elections in the interests of so called president, his pocket ministers and bureaucratic representatives (in short, president's gang members).

Aleksandr Kozulin, who has challenged the authoritarian "president" of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko in presidential elections of 2006, was released from jail on August 16, 2008 after being over there for 875 days. A former candidate for presidency in the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Kozulin was hurled into prison for staging protest rallies against rigging of presidential elections on Freedom day March 25, 2006. On July 12th, 2006 Minsk city court sentenced Aleksandr Kozulin to 5.5 years of imprisonment. In prison Aleksandr Kozulin announced a hunger strike, demanding to consider the Belarusian problem in the UN Security Council. The political prisoner was on hunger strike for 53 days and lost more than 40 kilograms of his weight. His health has been irreparably damaged. "I welcome the release of Alexander Kozulin. He and his family have shown incredible resilience, defending their rights and views on life", - said the leader of the civil campaign "European Belarus" Andrei Sannikov. "It is now necessary to release all political prisoners in Belarus. Next on the agenda is ending the repression against the opposition and the holding of genuinely free and democratic elections. It may be necessary to talk about postponement of the parliamentary elections at a later date. Because after mass non-inclusion of opposition representatives in the precinct commission, September 28, 2008 could be held only electoral farce ", - said the leader of the civil campaign "European Belarus".

- How does a new strategy of the opposition could look like in Belarus 2008? - The new strategy today is a severe resistance to dictatorship in all directions. In the situation when no liberalization is taking place, we cannot hope that the upcoming election to the "parliament" would be democratic and free, that is why slogans "Boycott to electoral farce!", "Boycott to Lukashenko's regime!", "Boycott to dictatorship!" are appearing on the agenda. The regime itself has pushed the opposition to change the approaches.

The president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, has urged the Belarusian government to immediately release the people arrested during a police crackdown on a demonstration staged in Minsk on March 25 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian National Republic. "The use of violence by the Belarusian authorities against peaceful demonstrators and the harassment of independent journalists are in contradiction to the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression and is not compatible with democratic fundamental rights," Mr. Poettering says in a statement issued on March 27, 2008.

Aleksandr Lukashenko admitted on 2/15/2008 that he knew well about bad health of political prisoner Aleksandr Kazulin´s wife and tried to use that situation for bargaining with the West and European Union. Irina Kazulina is seriously ill, while her husband has been kept in prison for 2 years o...

--$1.5 billion? $2.0 billion? $3.5 billion? Going once. Going twice. Sold to a gentleman in the front raw – “Time” magazine Person of the Year 2007 – Future Czar of Russia & Belarus, Mr. Putin. On December 20th, 2007 in Moscow, Belarus and Russia has signed an agreement on granting Belarus a st...

In 1994 one of the basic items of an electoral program of Alexandr Lukashenko was "indemnification of the lost monetary contributions of the population at the rate of Rouble-Dollar for 1985" (that is when 1 Soviet Rouble was 1 US dollar). Back in 1998 when Lukashenko already became the President of ...

The memorial rally and meeting dedicated to Dziady - the day of commemoration the ancestors - took place in Minsk on October 28, 2007. From 1.500 to 2.000 people participated in this rally. The column of demonstrants under the white-red-white national flags went along Nezalezhnasti Avenue and commem...

Almost 21 years have passed since a tragic date for Belarus - 26 April, 1986. The largest anthropogenic catastrophe in the history of humanity has inflicted an irretrievable harm to this country. About 2/3 of the radioactive wastes landed on the territory of Belarus and polluted about 1/5 of it, whe...

2007 New Year oil and gas conflict with Russia could cost Aleksandr Lukashenko more than simply a budget deficit. Belarusian Economy Ministry has prepared a vast program of state enterprises privatization. Talks with investors have started on some of enterprises. Belarus is getting ready for conside...

Minsk, Belarus Dear Alexander Grigorievich, It’s not easy for me to address you but I do understand that I have no right not to use all chances for the future of our Belarus. I do agree with your view that the situation in economy may become catastrophic. This must not be allowed. You alw...

This week, on Monday, January 22, 2007 President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met Leonid Maltsev, the Defense Minister of Belarus. During the meeting, Ahmadinejad said that the two states share identical views about regional and global issues, and voiced Tehran’s support for the expansion and dev...

The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) is observing the elections for local soviets that began on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007. Members of the human rights group are expected to monitor the poll at the early voting stage and on the main voting day, January 14th, 2007 both in Minsk and in the province...

Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to play karate (Japanese style of fighting). Belarusian “President” Aleksandr Lukashenko likes to play hockey. So, both of them are using very different means to resolve Russia-Belarus gas conflict. Another round of gas talks between Russia and Belarus broke...

(Is it Time For the UN Security Council Finally To Get Involved?) Today on December 5th, 2006 Irina Kazulina has visited the colony No.3 in Vitsebsk, where her husband, a former Candidiate for Presidency Aleksandr Kazulin, is continuing a hunger strike for the 47th day. He has lost 40 kg over the...

11/15/2006 The president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed hope, that this year (on the Iranian calendar year comes to the end on March 21, 2007) the Islamic Republic becomes a new Nuclear Power. "Time works for Iran in a situation around its nuclear program. Today the nuclear problem - m...

Minsk, Belarus - The Israeli Embassy has made a statement in the connection with two anti-Semitic acts of vandalism committed in Minsk and has conveyed all the information about those acts to the Foreign Ministry of Belarus. The Israeli Embassy hopes that Belarusian mass media would launch a wide ca...

October 31, 2006 Minsk, Belarus New arrests have taken place in close proximity to the court of Kastrychnitski district of Minsk, where the trial over Zmitser Dashkevich continues on Tuesday, October 31, 2006. People in plainclothes who had been watching outside the court building since morning,...

Last week Alexander Lukashenko has signed the Decree which radically changes all criminally-remedial system in the Republic of Belarus. Henceforth all government officials who made crimes against a state ownership, including deputies of National Assembly, Prime-Minister and Vice-Premiers, Minsk and ...

Belarusian Human Rights Center "Vyasna" has presented the report "President of Belarus Elections Campaign Repressions, 2006" in which shows the number of people, who were arrested days before elections, during mass protest actions against falsifications of the results of the elections and after ele...

On July, 21st this year Anton Taras (23 year-old, has 2-year old daughter Vera) - the translator, a member of the Belarus Association of Journalists has disappeared. That night he spoke with his parents on the phone and has told, that he was going a business-trip. Since then nobody knows where Anton...

After the death of Lenin in 1924 a new pseudomorph took charge of a pseudo-socialist state. His pseudonim was Stalin, former Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili (1879-1953), russian revolutionary born in Georgia, the son of a shoemaker, the second theoretician of pseudo-socialism, the second leader of...

So, what "pseudo" means? It is a prefix with the meaning "false". Pseudo-socialism means false socialism. To have a pseudonym means to have a false or invented name. Who is a pseud? Pseud is a short for pseudo-intellectual, a person who pretends to be an intellectual, but he is not really as he pr...

Letters I have received Michael, Thank you for your provocative submission. Unfortunately, this is not the type of article that the Journal is looking to publish in the near future. Sincerely,A. W., Editor-in-Chief ?Georgetown Journal of International Affairs? Dear Michael, Thank you ...

On August 22nd, 2007 at about 22:30 pm in Minsk, Belarus, belarussian militia have rushed into the private house in area of Bangalor where a premier performance of Edward Bonda's play "11 shirts" by "Free Theatre" was taking place. More than 50 people were taken to the Soviet District Militia Statio...