Alexander Lukashenko and the elections in Belarus

[Karl Marx's Camel]

What is your opinon on Alexander Lukashenko and the elections in Belarus? Do you believe the elections were a sham?

[Steve72]

Alexander Lukashenko is a Nationalist/stalinist who has adopted a lot of the old Soviet political and economic system. He has retained the KGB as the secret police. The country is run by a soviet style politburo and the media is controlled by the state, he also uses socialist rhetoric. However he is also very popular because he has brought stability and security to the country. Most of the economy is nationalised, crime is very low people have a social security net to look after them and he is very anti neo liberal and anti imperialist. As to whether there has been mass fraud in this election, well the russians say no (but they would say that) Europe and the states have denounced the election (well they would). There probably was some fraud and intimidation and i d'ont think that he has 82% of the vote as projected in exit polls but i think he has majority support because of his popular social policies and because of people's fear of western style neo liberalism which destroyed eastern europe and Russia. The opposition have typically denounced the result and have called for a re-run and for street protests but judging by the latest protests in Minsk i don't think there will be a revolution on the streets, even the BBC say there is no Ukraine style uprising or any prospect of one in the country.

[Mesijs]

This guy seems like a lunatic to me. Very Stalin/Brezhnev-like. Real polls would give him around 45% support of the people, which is still quite much for such a repressive dictator.

And of course these elections were a farce... The outcome is just totally unrealistic.

[travisdandy2000]

Real Polls?! All international observers found no serious problems with the election. Belarus deserves our support as a bulwark against imperialism. If belarus falls to the capitalist, it's hello NATO!



PRAVDA
Belarus: So, Where is the Revolution?

Where is the interfering and meddling hand of the West? What colour
will the Revolution be this time?

Strange. There has been an election in an ex-Soviet Republic –
Belarus, but where are the NGOs, funding groups of subversives and
hijacking the country's culture and laws? Isn't there going to be a
velvet revolution or an orange revolution? Where are the second-line
politicians, bribed and trained for their task by Washington? Isn't
Belarus going to apply for EU membership or ask to join NATO? What
happened to the final piece of the jigsaw on Russia's west flank?

Isn't anyone going to back up the defeated opposition candidate,
Alexander Milinkevich, who has called for street protests
(concentrations of terrorists and vandals) and who has deried the
elections as unfair? After all, Milinkevich achieved a hefty six per
cent of the vote. He must have been popular, so popular in fact that
he got exactly the same percentage of the vote as many analysts
predicted, while Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected as President
with some 82.6%, in a 92.6% turnout.

Vladimir Rushailo, head of a CIS monitoring committee, stated
yesterday that his teams of monitors did not see any serious
violations in this election.

Alexander Lukashenko begins his third term knowing his country and
his people are behind him, after a free and fair democratic election
which saw the three opposition candidates garner less than 12% of
the vote between them. Apart from the 6% of Milinkevich (Allied
Opposition/Unified Democratic Forces), Sergei Gaidukevich (Liberal
Democrat) managed 3.5% and Aleksandr Kozulin (Social Democrat),
2.3%.

If the meddlesome and interfering West bothered to employ analysts
who had any idea what they were speaking about and did not work from
their offices in comfortable western capitals and if their so-called
free press stopped telling lies (a habit that has become worse since
the end of the Cold War), we would not hear such ludicrous terms
as "Lukashenko the Dictator" and absurd claims that the E.U. will
impose sanctions.

Why? Because Lukashenko won? Certainly Moscow will be able to match
clout for clout the sanctions imposed by the European Union, that
clique of self-righteous former imperialist colonialist states whose
recent history is marred by the stain of slavery and the wholesale
slaughter of populations in developing countries. Who is the
European Union to speak?

As for the USA, did Lukashenko invade a sovereign state, slaughter
100.000 people, wire up prisoners' genitals with electrodes, urinate
on their food and set dogs on them? Or did he mind his own business
performing good governance in his own country? Compare this with
the "democratic" calls for civil disobedience by the heavily
defeated Milinkevich.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
ism.

[travisdandy2000]

March 20, 2006

Lopsided Lukashenko win anticipated as legitimate election outcome

By Stephen Gowans

http://gowans.blogspot.com/

While the New York Times has treated the lopsided outcome of
Belarus' presidential election as confirmation of the allegations of
the US-backed candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich that the vote was
rigged, major media outlets have ignored their own previous
reporting that predicted the incumbent, Aleksandr Lukashenko, was by
far the most popular candidate and would likely score an
overwhelming electoral victory.

A September 25, 2005 Los Angeles Times report said that, "even
[Lukashenko's] fiercest opponents don't question the accuracy of
independent polls that rate him the most popular politician in this
country."

An InterMedia poll reported on by the Los Angeles Times on March 19,
and a Gallup/Baltic Surveys poll, cited by the Times of London on
March 10, predicted an overwhelming Lukashenko win.

Major media outlets have since ignored their own reporting, to echo
the charges of opposition forces.

These opposition forces have openly worked with Washington to oust
Lukashenko, who runs an economically nationalist government that
resists privatization, imposes conditions on foreign investment, and
nurtures domestic industry behind tariff walls, while presiding over
the region's lowest unemployment rate, highest rate of economic
growth, and flattest distribution of income.

The people are doing well, but the economy, from the point of view
of Western investors and transnational corporations, is not.

That's why the United States, Britain and Germany have worked with
forces within Belarus opposed to the government's economic policies,
to bring down Lukashenko and replace him with a pro-Western regime
that will sell off profitable state-owned enterprises and open the
country to penetration by Western capital and exports, on terms
favorable to Western corporations.

According to an April 22, 2005 New York Times report, Condoleezza
Rice met Lukashenko's opponents in Lithuania on April 21, where they
discussed the use of "mass pressure for change."

"Rice's meeting," the report went on, "appeared to be aimed at
preparing opposition officials for the elections, which Rice said
would be an `excellent opportunity' to challenge the government."

This is consistent with the view that Lukashenko's popularity was
recognized as a barrier to change, and that the opposition, under
Washington's guidance, developed plans to use extra-electoral means
to force the incumbent to step down.

Election coverage in the early part of the campaign pointed out that
opposition forces were doing little to contest the election, and
were preparing instead for an insurrection. (The election would act
as the context, and a trumped up charge of electoral fraud, as the
pretext.)

The New York Times reported on January 1 that "Mr. Lukashenko's
opponents seem not to be running an election campaign, as much as
they are trying to organize an uprising," and on February 26
reported that Milinkevich "is campaigning not for the presidency but
for an uprising."

While the outcome of the election appears to be suspiciously
lopsided (Lukashenko took 83 percent of the vote to only six percent
for Milinkevich) on February 26, the New York Times reported
that "the results of a poll, paid for by the [International
Republican Institute]…showed the ratings of Milinkevich and other
opposition leaders in the single digits."

Inasmuch as the New York Times reported that the poll was done for
the Milinkevich campaign, which was being advised by Terry Nelson,
the national political director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign,
the lopsided Lukashenko electoral victory was surely anticipated,
and should have been known by the New York Times to be a possible
(indeed, the probable) legitimate outcome of the election.

Instead, the newspaper has followed the script adhered to by other
major media outlets of echoing the allegations of the US-backed
opposition forces, offering not a shred of evidence that the
allegations are true.

In this way, the New York Times acts in its accustomed way as the
propaganda arm of the US state, conveying, not so much a set of
facts, as an understanding of the world, which in turn defines which
facts are reported (when), and which facts are omitted (when.)

That understanding is consistent with the interests of the investors
and transnational corporations on whose behalf the US state acts.
Lukashenko stands in the way of the profit-making opportunities of
US corporations, so Lukashenko must go. The US state, in the person
of Condoleezza Rice, rushes to Lithuania to enlist agents to operate
on its behalf within Belarus. The agents execute Washington's plan.
Trumped up charges are made. Pressure is put on Lukashenko to step
down. The press plays its part.

[YSR]

See, this is the same problem I had with that whole Ukraine elections thing earlier this year. Yushenko was back by the US, but his opponent was a Stalinist-style character. It's hard to decide who's WORSE.

[TC]

Whenever people vote for someone who wont open their country up to American economic takeover, the election is a sham, whenever they vote for someone who wants to sell off all the state property to Americans and buy American products, the elections are a triumph of democracy. They re-voted in the Ukraine until the Orange fascist thugs intimidated enough people that the Americans got the results they wanted, i guess they were hoping for the same thing in Belarus.

[Janus]

Here's the latest news concerning this situation.

Source: BBC News

Belarus' main opposition leader has urged his supporters to keep up daily protests against the election result, calling for a major rally on Saturday.
Alexander Milinkevich was addressing a few thousand protesters who had gathered in a Minsk square to complain of vote-rigging in Sunday's poll.

Ambassadors from 11 EU countries went to the square earlier to show support.

British ambassador Brian Bennett said Europe was dissatified over what had been a "fraudulent vote".
The protesters accuse President Alexander Lukashenko of rigging the presidential poll and want a new vote.

The EU and US have condemned the poll as flawed and the EU has said it may impose sanctions. But Russia says the poll was fair.

Results announced on Monday gave Mr Lukashenko 82.6% of the vote, securing his third term in office.

Electoral officials said the runner-up Mr Milinkevich polled 6%.
Arrests


Mr Milinkevich said he was going to spend another night with his supporters camped out in the square.

He called for a big show of strength in the Belarussian capital on Saturday - the anniversary of the declaration of independence of the short-lived Belarussian republic in 1918.

"We will come here every day until 25 March to speak about freedom. Bring your friends and acquaintances. We will gather many people," the head of the United Civil Party said.

He spoke by the light of TV cameras after the lighting in October Square was shut off.

The opposition said on Tuesday that four activists had been arrested during the protest.

'Last chance'

In a small-scale echo of Ukraine's "Orange Revolution", protesters have put up 17 tents in the square. They have put candles and food on plastic sheets and have been playing music from loudspeakers.
They said they would continue their protest in sub-zero temperatures until a new election was called - but such an outcome is unlikely, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports from Minsk.

One young man in the square told the BBC "this is the last chance to change the situation".

"Many people helped us, they brought hot water, hot tea and some meals... it's a bid for freedom and the people standing here don't want to be slaves," he said.

Protests began on Sunday evening as the polls closed, with some 10,000 people gathering in October Square.

Thousands turned out again on Monday night, but numbers later dwindled to several hundred.

'Absurd' complaints

Mr Lukashenko has said he believes voters have made their choice and that any attempts to launch a revolution have failed.

In a television appearance on Monday, the president insisted the poll was fair and democratic and called the complaints "absurd".

However, the OSCE, Europe's main election monitoring body, said the process had been "severely flawed", with harassment of opposition activists, biased media coverage and obstruction of independent monitors.

The US, which has previously labelled Mr Lukashenko a dictator, says it does not accept the result.

But a rival observer mission, from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States, said the election was open and transparent.

The elections may very well have been a fraud. After all, an analysis of Lukashenko shows that he is an authoritarian who has shown support for the 1991 Soviet coup planners. He disbanded parliament back in 1996 and a 2004 referendum was also controversial as well. We might just see another "Orange Revolution" in the making.

[Steve72]

There will be in all probability no so called orange style revolution in Belarus and to be honest i hope for the people of Belarus sake that there is not unless they want to live under a nightmare of a neo-liberal regime

[TC]

The elections may very well have been a fraud. After all, an analysis of Lukashenko shows that he is an authoritarian who has shown support for the 1991 Soviet coup planners. He disbanded parliament back in 1996 and a 2004 referendum was also controversial as well. We might just see another "Orange Revolution" in the making.


You say that 'an analysis of Lukashenko shows that he is an authoritarian' when your only information about the guy comes from the BBC...reeeeeeallly unbiased source there.

Supporting the Soviet coup detat is not a bad thing. The Soviet government was corrupt and overstepping its constitutional authority by forcibly expelling the other republics from Russia while stealing the public assets of the non-Russian republics. Gorbachev in effect initiated a presidential coup before the leftwing faction tried to arrest him...as political actions go it was one of the most responsible, and when the capitalist Russian presidency of Yeltsin illigally took over parliament the leftwing Communists who could have just killed the guy showed more restraint than any other 'coup' planners ever have. Certaintly more restraint then Yeltsin showed when he used the military against the Communist controlled Russian Parliament in 93'.

[Sankara1983]

These elections, despite their serious flaws, are much more democratic than the polls in US-allied countries like Uzbekistan. At least in Belarus actual opponents of the president are allowed to run.

[Janus]

Riot police have broken up the demonstrations.

BBC News

Riot police in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, have broken up a five-day demonstration against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
More than 100 troops poured into the central square and loaded protesters onto waiting trucks.

Small groups of demonstrators had gathered in the square since Mr Lukashenko secured a third term in office last Sunday.

The opposition condemned the election result, saying the vote was rigged.

The BBC's Emma Simpson says about 150 demonstrators were in the square when it was cleared in less than 20 minutes.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said some of the demonstrators were wrestled to the ground, while pictures showed helmeted police restraining protesters as they led them away.

Our correspondent says although small in scale, this has been an unprecedented protest for Belarus.

During his 12 years in office, President Lukoshenka has shown little tolerance for dissent, she adds.

Opposition defiant

According to an opposition presidential candidate who arrived at the square, all the women were allowed to leave.
After the protesters were removed, their tents and foodstuffs and scattered rubbish were all that remained in the square.

The opposition's main election candidate condemned the actions of the police.

"The authorities are destroying freedom, truth and justice. There was only enough democracy for three days and this shows the essence of the regime that has been established in Belarus," Alexander Milinkevich told AP.

Mr Milinkevich said it was unlikely that the protestors would give up and said a huge demonstration was being planned for 25 March.

That day marks the anniversary of a short-lived 1980 declaration of the first independent Belarusian state - a traditional day for opposition rallies.

"On that day we will make known the long-term plans of the opposition," Mr Milinkevich warned.


Landslide victory

President Lukashenko's election victory drew mixed reactions.

He won 82.6% of the vote, securing a third five-year term in office.

However, the opposition and some international observers said the vote was unfair and flawed.

Austria's foreign minister, Ursula Plassnik, said the opposition had been "intimidated" and "hindered".

But an observer mission from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States described the election as open and transparent.

Mr Lukashenko said the poll was fair and democratic and called the complaints about it "absurd".

He has also warned there would be no 'Orange Revolution' which brought about a change of regime in neighbouring Ukraine.

[Wanted Man]

Boo hoo, wah wah, go cry me a river. Whatever Mr Lukashenko is "doing" can in no way be worse than what his Turkmen colleague Niyazov is doing. But apparently for some reason the media keep quiet about that, no worldwide condemnation of a country that has a leader making golden, rotating statues of himself and renaming bread after his mother, while the citizens live in shacks. Surely, it couldn't have anything to do with Turkmenistan's abundant resources that we'd just love to trade with ol' Niya? Naaahhh...

[Djehuti]

Originally posted by [email protected] 21 2006, 05:15 PM
Real Polls?! All international observers found no serious problems with the election. Belarus deserves our support as a bulwark against imperialism. If belarus falls to the capitalist, it's hello NATO!


Yeah, and why not support North Korea when your at it? "Bulwark against imperialism" yeah I fucking care soooo much. And Belarus is allready a capitalist state.

Some peoples "anti-imperialism" is totally crazy, are we primarily communists or anti-imps? Why should we support a nationalist capitalist state over imperialist capitalist interests?

Just because the USA dislikes Lukashenko does not mean that his a "good guy" the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. If people here were real communists they would support the anti-capitalist struggles uf the belarussian working class and neither "the western imperialism" nor some nationalist regime.

I don't care if he or any other is "properly elected" or not.
Hang em high!

[MeTaLhEaD]

The Belarus elections may have not been perfect! ..But the precense of 90% of all voters to the polls! should valid alexander as the winner

people looks interest from russia with Alexander .. and The US deslikes Alexander

doesnt matter hes is bad, anti imperialist, nationalist , fascist .. if he is elected by hi people then why he has not the right tu rule his country !

[The Grey Blur]

Originally posted by [email protected] 21 2006, 04:15 PM
Belarus deserves our support as a bulwark against imperialism
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Totally

[Das war einmal]

Lukashenko is not a good leader, he is corrupting the democracy and is against freedom of speech. Nonetheless, I don't think another leader would be better for the Belarian people. There is a quite strong socialist line in the country and I would think criminallity and difference between incomes and such will go on the rise dramatically...

[321zero]

Why should we support a nationalist capitalist state over imperialist capitalist interests?

Why defend Venezuela against the yanquis, why defend Iraq against USUK? Why oppose Imperial Japans greater co-prosperity sphere? Why oppose NAFTA? Why oppose the Nicaraguan Contras, why oppose the UN occupation of Haiti? Why defend Ethiopia against Italy?

If you can answer any of these questions you might find your way to generalising to the point where you can answer your own.

[Djehuti]

I don't support any war except class war, I don't support any class except the working class. I am of cource not for imperialism, I am very much against it. But I do not oppose imperialism by siding with the national bourgeoisie over the imperialist bourgeoisie.

The working class is not less oppressed by "its own" bourgeoisie, when (if) the proletarians defeat the imperialist aggressor they will still be under attack by the national bourgeoisie, we have seen it so many times. There should not be any unholy alliances of these sorts, the working class should take up arms against both the national bourgeoisie and the imperialist aggressor. They did so in Spain and they were winning, then the working class leaders allied themselves with bourgeoisie republic and the revolution was devoured. The bourgeoisie republic was soon after that defeated by Francos troops.

[321zero]

You are against imperialism but you are indifferent to their victory or defeat in, say, Iraq?

Any political or military subordination of proletarian forces is wrong, and we can see that in China, in Spain, but in a military conflict as long as someone is shooting at the people shooting at you you might want to consider a tactical 'alliance'.

It's when this is elevated into a stratagy (bloc of four class, Popular Front) which requires subordination or incorportation of revolutionary forces that there's a problem. I reckon.

[Dreckt]

I don't see how the Belarus president is helping us. He hasn't done any greater "socialist" reform during his terms. Nor do I see his reason for calling demonstrators "terrorists".

By sending police against the demonstrators he'll only make them martyrs - people will start thinking "hey, maybe the opposition is right after all, why else send the police against them?"

[Janus]

Latest news from Belarus

BBC News

Police and demonstrators have clashed during a large opposition rally over disputed election results in the Belarus capital Minsk.
Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin was among several protesters arrested as they marched on a jail where other demonstrators are held.

There are reports police used tear gas to disperse the marchers.

A peaceful rally was moved to a city centre park after police closed October Square, site of earlier protests.

"The more the authorities conduct repression, the closer they bring themselves to their end," the main opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich earlier told the several thousand who gathered in Yanka Kupala park.

Both the opposition and international monitors have strongly criticised last Sunday's poll that saw President Alexander Lukashenko take 82.6% of the vote, securing his third seven-year term in office.

Belarus insists Mr Lukashenko's win was fair.

'Police beatings'

Saturday's demonstration was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the declaration of independence of the short-lived Belarussian republic in 1918.

The march was originally due to be held in October Square, but police used megaphones to tell protesters it was closed while diggers cleared away ice from the area.
Prison trucks, ambulances and vehicles carrying police reinforcements were spotted down nearby side streets before the rally began.

As the protest grew, with many chanting "Shame" and "Long Live Belarus", security forces began hemming them into groups and pushing them away from the square.

At one point some protesters stopped the traffic but were quickly swooped on by the police.

Hundreds of marchers later moved on to a jail where several hundred of their fellow protesters are being held after their arrest in October Square on Friday.

Despite being confronted by police they stood their ground, shouting slogans and waving flags.

There were unconfirmed reports that tear gas was used to disperse the crowd.

One woman was filmed being beaten by several officers, while another protestor was left almost unconscious and bleeding on the ground, says the BBC's Emma Simpson in Minsk.

The authorities said in a statement that stones and unidentified explosive devices had been thrown at the police and that eight of them had been injured.

Witnesses said Mr Kozulin - who was a runner-up in the presidential election - and several members of his family were pulled from the crowd by police.

There were initial reports that Mr Milinkevich had also been arrested, but his officials later confirmed it was one of his aides who had been detained.

'Targeted sanctions'

Russia has not criticised the election and accused the OCSE, which monitored the vote, of inflaming tensions.

White House press spokesman Scott McClellan said on Friday that the Bush administration would apply additional "targeted sanctions" against some governmental officials.

No time frame was given, but the sanctions are expected to take the form of travel restrictions and some financial penalties.

Earlier, EU leaders issued a declaration saying that the bloc would "take restrictive measures against those responsible for the violation of international electoral standards".

The measures have yet to be agreed, but EU officials said they would probably include a travel ban against Mr Lukashenko.

[Guerrilla22]

The real verdict must come from the people of Belarus, not a bunch of people on an internet board.

[Hiero]

The working class is not less oppressed by "its own" bourgeoisie, when (if) the proletarians defeat the imperialist aggressor they will still be under attack by the national bourgeoisie, we have seen it so many times

Not really. They are less oppressed by their own bourgeoisie. We have actually seen improvements when the national bourgeois have taken control. One of the biggest improvement is that industry can develop more freeely. The imperialist underdevelops the oppressed nation. They only invest in markets that suit them. So we have seen where the imperialist invest in dog food factories, while the country starves. After national liberation a bourgeois can be built in industries that really matter.

Then there is also the culture. The national bourgeois shares the same national culture as the proletariat. After national liberation people can be free to speak their langauge and participate in cultural activities that may have been oppressed under occupation.

National liberation should be done under a united national front. That is all classes and people who are for national liberation fights the imperialist. However the proletariat must be the leaders of the national front, so after national liberation they are in control of the state. Then building of the national eceonomy can be under the direction of the proletariat for the proletariat.

[вор в законе]

are we primarily communists or anti-imps?

The communists are anti-imperialists by definition.

[Steve72]

Batter the bourgeois rabble!!!!

[Janus]

The EU demands the immediate release of Belarus opposition leader

BBC News

The European Union has called for the immediate release of Belarus opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin.
Mr Kozulin was among protesters arrested on Saturday as they marched towards a jail where other demonstrators were being held.

The EU said it was "appalled" and demanded Mr Kozulin and other detainees be freed immediately.

The arrests came after police and protesters clashed during an opposition rally over disputed election results.

Belarus' interior ministry said 52 people were arrested on Saturday, but human rights groups say the true figure was much higher.

One local civil rights group said as many as 600 people have been arrested in Belarus during the last week.

Divisions

Mr Kozulin is being held at a detention centre in the town of Zhodino, just outside Belarus' capital, Minsk, his wife, Irina, told reporters.
He has not been charged with any offence and is in good health, she said.

Fellow opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich called for Mr Kozulin's immediate release, but expressed reservations about his decision to march on the jail.

He called the decision to march on the jail a mistake, especially after a series of successful protests earlier on Saturday, says the BBC's Emma Simpson in Minsk.

There would be no more protests for one month, Mr Milinkevich said, when Belarus would mark 20 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that blanketed much of the country in radiation.

'Police beatings'

Belarusian Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov said Mr Kozulin had been arrested because he had called for people to rise up against the state.

Witnesses said Mr Kozulin - who was a runner-up in the presidential election - and several members of his family were pulled from the crowd by police.
Earlier, Mr Milinkevich told several thousand protesters gathered in Yanka Kupala park that the government's handling of the protests would spell its downfall.

"The more the authorities conduct repression, the closer they bring themselves to their end," he said.

Saturday's demonstration was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the declaration of independence of the short-lived Belarussian republic in 1918.

The march was originally due to be held in October Square, the site of earlier protests, but police used megaphones to tell protesters it was closed.

Internal opposition and international monitors have strongly criticised last Sunday's poll, in which President Alexander Lukashenko took 82.6% of the vote, securing his third seven-year term in office.

Belarus insists Mr Lukashenko's win was fair.

Russia has not criticised the election and accused the OSCE, which monitored the vote, of inflaming tensions.

The US and EU have agreed to impose sanctions on Belarus, likely to include a travel ban against Mr Lukashenko.

[Wanted Man]

How lovely. I wonder when the EU is going to complain about their man in Tbilisi, one Mr Saakashvili who has his police doing similar things, and "supposedly" won the presidential election with 96% of the votes.

[RussianAnarchist]

More photos:
http://charter97.org/bel/news/2006/03/25/hronika

Edition Belarus Indimedia is arrested, many representatives анархо-and the punk-movement are arrested. Many Belarus anarchists support Milinkevich because be worse than Lukashenko already anything can't.

[Mesijs]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2006, 07:12 AM
Boo hoo, wah wah, go cry me a river. Whatever Mr Lukashenko is "doing" can in no way be worse than what his Turkmen colleague Niyazov is doing. But apparently for some reason the media keep quiet about that, no worldwide condemnation of a country that has a leader making golden, rotating statues of himself and renaming bread after his mother, while the citizens live in shacks. Surely, it couldn't have anything to do with Turkmenistan's abundant resources that we'd just love to trade with ol' Niya? Naaahhh...
Statues, just like Stalin!

Anyway, this is a non-argument. Do you support Lukashenko or not? Please stop talking about other evil regimes, we're talking about Belarus now. Stop hiding yourself, please tell me what you think.

Personally I think that beating a man heavily wounded because he is peacefully protesting is wrong. Do you think the same?

[Janus]

Belarus jails Lukashenko's foes


Originally posted by BBC News
Belarussian courts have jailed more than 150 opposition protesters following demonstrations against the president's landslide election victory.

Those sentenced to up to 15 days in jail included Mariusz Maszkiewicz, a former Polish ambassador to Belarus.

President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election on 19 March has been widely condemned as fraudulent by the opposition and by Western observers.

A runner-up in the election, Alexander Kozulin, is also in jail.

He could face up to six years in jail on hooliganism charges, correspondents report.

Mr Kozulin was arrested when police broke up an opposition rally in Minsk on Saturday. He is being held in a jail in Zhodino, 40km (25 miles) north-east of the capital.

Mr Kozulin complained of back and knee pain after being beaten by police, his lawyer Igor Rynkevich told the Associated Press news agency.

Polish protest

Poland has complained that Mr Maszkiewicz was beaten up after he was detained.

Another Polish diplomat, the consul in the western city of Grodno, has been prevented by Belarussian customs officers from entering the country.

Belarussian state television accused consul Ianusz Dabrowski of smuggling in publications denigrating Belarus and of meeting "radical" opposition activists.

The EU has voiced outrage at the arrest of Mr Kozulin and other protesters, demanding their immediate release.

Belarussian Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov said Mr Kozulin had been arrested because he had called for people to rise up against the state.

Belarus insists Mr Lukashenko's win was fair.

The US and EU have agreed to impose sanctions on Belarus, likely to include a travel ban against Mr Lukashenko.

Canada has decided to limit its official relations with Belarus and has demanded the release of Frederick Lavoie, a Quebec journalist arrested while covering the demonstrations in Minsk.