From: amnesty@amnesty.oil.ca
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 09:00:03 -0500
Message-Id: <200002111400.JAA15633@amnesty.oil.ca>
To: amnesty-L@oil.ca
Subject: BELARUS: Crack-down on dissidents continues
Sender: owner-amnesty-l@oil.ca
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: owner-amnesty-l@host.oil.ca

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
11 February 2000

Belarus

Crack-down on dissidents continues

The year 2000 has brought no change in the repression of opposition in
Belarus as President Lukashenka’s government has turned its attention to
less well known dissidents outside Minsk and to younger protesters,
Amnesty International warned today.

The regional Belarusian Social Democratic Party leader Gennady Garusev
was yesterday sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment for his part in a
peaceful protest in January in the town of Borisov, approximately 60
kilometres north-east of Minsk. On 16 January a small number of
protesters unfurled banners during a picket in Borisov condemning
continued human rights violations and the ongoing trial of former Prime
Minister Mikhail Chigir.

Amnesty International is concerned that four more dissidents who took
part in the protest and were also arrested and charged and may yet be
imprisoned for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of
assembly. If they are convicted Amnesty International will consider them
prisoners of conscience.

A number of young activists have also been targeted by the authorities
and some have reportedly suffered repercussions at their universities
and colleges. The case of 18-year-old Natalya Grechukha for allegedly
burning a flag during a demonstration in Minsk last year was heard in
court this week. If convicted she faces a possible prison sentence.

Other young protestors also face prison sentences for exercising their
right to freedom of assembly. Seventeen-year-old Andrei Volobev,
18-year-old Anton Lazarev and university students Gleb Dogel and German
Sushkevich were among a number of young Belarusians who were arrested
and given administrative prison sentences after the Freedom March
demonstration on 17 October last year. The criminal charge of ‘malicious
hooliganism’, which has been frequently used by the authorities to
intimidate members of the opposition, has reportedly been brought
against the young protestors. Their trials are expected to commence
later this month.

Amnesty International condemns this intimidation and repression of
dissident voices outside the capital Minsk, and the persecution of
younger Belarusians for expressing their peaceful political beliefs and
for exercising their right to freedom of assembly.

"By casting its net wider to target opposition everywhere, the
Belarusian government is further alienating itself from the community it
purports to represent," Amnesty International warned.

ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
****************************************************************
You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
list subscription message may be removed.
****************************************************************
To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca>
with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe,
send a message to <majordomo@oil.ca> with "unsubscribe amnesty-L"
in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact
<owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca>. <owner-amnesty-L@oil.ca> handles
only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty
news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>.
Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International
and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you
need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International.