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| stren |
| quote: | MINSK, Belarus (AP) -- The Belarus KGB security chief has accused the opposition of plotting a violent coup against President Alexander Lukashenko with foreign help and warned that protesters demonstrating during Sunday's presidential election will be charged with terrorism.
Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet republic since 1994 and has been branded "Europe's last dictator" by Western nations, is seeking five more years at the presidential helm after pushing through a referendum scrapping term limits.
The warning by KGB chief Stepan Sukhorenko was the strongest yet against street rallies on election day. Terrorism carries a prison sentence of eight to 15 years, and up to life in prison or the death penalty under aggravated circumstances, Sukhorenko said.
Authorities on Wednesday detained a major opposition party leader and barred three members of an international monitoring mission from the country before the election. Belarus on Tuesday arrested two Swedes who were part of a team of unaccredited election observers and ordered them to leave the country, allegedly for breaking a polling law.
Sweden on Thursday dismissed the upcoming election as a sham.
Opposition leaders have called for peaceful protests if the voting is considered fraudulent.
Sukhorenko said no demonstrations will be tolerated.
"We will not allow the seizure of power under the guise of presidential elections," Sukhorenko told a news conference. "For those who take the risk of going out into the street and try to destabilize the situation, their actions will be qualified as terrorism."
He accused the opposition of plotting to overthrow Lukashenko and showed a video meant to suggest American involvement. He also accused a Georgian lawmaker and employees of Georgian embassies in neighboring Lithuania and Ukraine of plotting subversive actions during Sunday's vote.
"What is occurring is a preparation not for a peaceful protest, as the organizers of the so-called revolution explain it, but for a planned forceful action including the detonation of explosive devices, arson and the active provocation of law enforcement organs to use force," Sukhorenko said.
He said the alleged activities were part of a plot "to seize power on a wave of chaos and confusion."
The main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich, denied the allegations and said he has called on his supporters to demonstrate peacefully on a central Minsk square when polls close.
"They're frightening us with the KGB and explosions. This is completely stupid," Milinkevich said at a rally in the city of Borisov. "We will come with flowers and stick them in the shields of the (riot police)."
He claimed Lukashenko lacks support to win a majority of votes and avoid a run-off.
Lukashenko's government has repeatedly accused the opposition of plotting violence, and claimed Western countries and their ex-Soviet allies are working with the opposition toward that aim.
In a video shown at the news conference, a man Sukhorenko claimed was involved in the plot said he had been at a camp in Georgia where terrorist training was provided by members of the former Soviet army and four Arabs, and that two American instructors once visited.
In an on-line question-and-answer session, U.S. Ambassador George Krol said it was "absurd and baseless" to allege that American organizations teach terrorism, and said that "Belarusians have the right to peacefully express their opinion."
The European Union warned it could broaden travel restrictions against Belarus officials if authorities continued a clampdown on opposition figures and election observers before the vote. |
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europ...g.ap/index.html
i'm suprised no one has picked up the subject of elections in Belarus. Anyway i think its terryfying, that such a regime still exists in europe :( |
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| St_Andrew |
Yeah the situation is really quite insane there and something should be done about it. I guess that we can only hope this will turn out to be another "orange revolution" though :)
It is really suprising though that this hasn't got more media attention, because it is a real shame for europe (it got some in Sweden due to the arrest of the swedes - it happend a few weekes ago with people from another swedish party too). |
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| stren |
| quote: | Originally posted by St_Andrew
Yeah the situation is really quite insane there and something should be done about it. I guess that we can only hope this will turn out to be another "orange revolution" though :)
It is really suprising though that this hasn't got more media attention, because it is a real shame for europe (it got some in Sweden due to the arrest of the swedes - it happend a few weekes ago with people from another swedish party too). |
i think its too early for a revlolution like the orange one in the ukraine. People are just too repressed, the country is extremely poor and the countryside is convinced Lukaszenko is the way to go. :( |
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| St_Andrew |
| quote: | Originally posted by stren
i think its too early for a revlolution like the orange one in the ukraine. People are just too repressed, the country is extremely poor and the countryside is convinced Lukaszenko is the way to go. :( |
I'm affraid you are right, many commentators believe that Lukaszenko would get a majority anyway since many Belarusians (and Russians) like the authoritarian style of rule. That he is arresting a lot of people and such though should be a sign that he is nervous which should be a good sign, so perhaps not yet, but hopefully in the near future we will see change in Belarus :) |
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| Marc Summers |
| 99% of Belarus still has unsafe levels of radiation. :nervous: |
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| St_Andrew |
From a blog of a Swedish politican that is a member of "my party" (translated by me, and it's not any of the ones that got arrested before):
| quote: | I am now in Belarus in the Swedish embassy. There are police everywhere in the city and the roads are closed. It is expected to be chaos tomorrow when the opposition is going to demonstrate and the regime has said the protesters could be punnished by death by doing this. It's a dismal atmosphere here and there are very few people on the streets. Many people are stuck in the Airport of Minsk and are neither let in or out of the country, primarly people from Ukraine and Georgia.
On the train here they searched through all my stuff to see if I had anything on me that could indicate that I am here for the elections sake.
Now I'm going to have a meeting with to MPs from Sweden and then I'm going to meet Viachorka's wife (the partyleader of our sisterparty that is imprisoned). It is chaos here and it's going to be worse, the question is just how many they [the regime] are ready to kill. It should also be mentioned that no foreigners will be let into this country before the 26th of March. |
It's quite insane! |
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| metalgearsolid |
| quote: | Originally posted by St_Andrew
It's quite insane! |
Truly it is but if it makes you feel any better most Belorus babies are being born retarded so in 20yrs we won't have to worry about that dictator's regime. |
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| St_Andrew |
| quote: | Originally posted by metalgearsolid
Truly it is but if it makes you feel any better most Belorus babies are being born retarded so in 20yrs we won't have to worry about that dictator's regime. |
That makes it a lot better, thanks :rolleyes:
Another insane article of the many that exists:
http://www.br23.net/en/
| quote: | Free press knocked out
Yesterday police arrested 200,000 copies of newspaper “Tovarish” which contained Milinkevich’s election programme. Newspaper was printed in Russia and was brought to Belarus in a truck. When journalists were unloading the newspaper stacks into a private garage, a “vigilant” guard from that parking lot called the police to report “the crime.” They arrived in a matter of minutes and arrested the cargo.
Also yesterday another independent newspaper was closed down by the court, because of Danish cartoons. The name of the banned newspaper is “Zhoda” (Zgoda).
Virtually all channels of independent information are closed down now. |
And an Internationa Herald Tribune article about Europe's role in this:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03...on/edsaakas.php
| quote: | When Belarus holds its presidential election this Sunday, it will not only represent the most important vote in Europe this year, but will also be the most critical test to date of Europe's tolerance towards dictatorship on its own continent.
As the leader of a former Soviet European state that is striving for NATO membership and greater Euro-Atlantic integration, I am following this election very closely. Here is why.
Alexander Lukashenko is up for re-election after rigging a referendum to change the constitution so he could run again. Ruling with an iron fist over 10 million people in the heart of Europe, Lukashenko has a well-documented history of overseeing disappearances of political opponents, disbanding democratically elected parliaments, falsifying election results and accumulating a deplorable human rights record.
This summer, two activists of a Georgian youth group were detained for a week in Belarus on trumped up charges straight out of the Soviet era. Their crime? Being seen talking with Belarusian youth. And the response of Belarusian authorities? To initiate a blanket visa regime with Georgia, labeling our NGOs and pro-democracy activists as exporters of terrorism.
Much like the fraudulent election that led to the "rose revolution" in my country two and a half years ago, the "election" this weekend will be less of a vote than a mass exercise in ballot fixing.
Out of the over 74,000 precinct election commissioners selected to run the election throughout the country, only two represent opposition parties. The rest are not only loyal to Lukashenko but are actively involved in vote rigging.
Domestic and foreign observers (Georgia and the United States have been barred) have little impact on the transparency of the process as they are restricted in their access to the point of not even being allowed in the same room where the election commissions count the ballots.
While the election itself will not provide much drama, the aftermath may. A dynamic and unified opposition has rallied around a single opposition candidate and has vowed to take to the streets after the vote to protest the sham the election will be.
It will be these street demonstrations - and Europe's reaction to them - that test the continent's resolve to rid itself of dictatorship.
While Belarus has been shunned or largely forgotten in the West, it does have one important ally - Russia. Because Moscow supplies heavily subsidized energy on which Belarus is almost entirely dependent, Russian political and economic support is critical to Lukashenko's survival. It is the only reason why the archaic, Soviet-style Belarusian economy has not collapsed altogether.
It is worth mentioning that while Russia maintains these subsidies, Gazprom recently doubled its prices to Georgia - some observers have called it the "democracy tax."
The West has been down this road before - in Ukraine a little over a year ago. Moscow, despite being embarrassed geopolitically for blatantly supporting fraudulent elections in Ukraine, is repeating its mistakes and will strongly support Lukashenko's "re-election."
During the inevitable protests after the election results are announced, Brussels will need to show leadership by publicly denouncing and not recognizing the election and facilitating an EU-led negotiating forum for the two Belarusian sides.
The EU also needs to stand with the Belarusian pro-democracy activists through such acts as imposing stricter economic and political sanctions on the Belarusian government.
By embracing the new wave of democratic liberation that has transformed my country, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, Europe will finally send the unified message that no impediments to democracy exist in Europe's east, and that no barrier or dictator can resist freedom's call.
The European Union must therefore prepare itself for the same decisive role it played in assuring democracy in Ukraine. We ask simply that the EU take sides, not against another country, but in favor of Europe's raison d'ętre - democracy.
When President George W. Bush visited Georgia nearly a year ago he declared my country a "beacon of liberty," and it is this same liberty that the Belarusian people will soon be standing for. I am proud that Georgia will be among the countries that will be standing strongly with them. |
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