VZCZCXRO0260
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHSK #0244/01 1981452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171452Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0377
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK 0384

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MINSK 000244 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: BELARUS WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - JULY 17, 2009 
 
MINSK 00000244  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Protestant Community Fined (para. 2) 
- Belarusian Popular Front Youth Member Expelled (para. 3) 
- Independent Journalists Warned  (para. 4) 
- Jailed Volkovysk Activist Stops Hunger Strike (para. 5) 
- Human Rights Advocate Heavily Fined  (para. 6) 
- Police Violently Disperse Opposition Demonstrations (para. 7) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- Medvedev favors separate WTO accession for Russia, Belarus and 
Kazakhstan  (para. 8) 
- Belarus sees slump in its through-May trade in oil and oil 
products (para. 9) 
- 2009 privatization virtually stalled  (para. 10) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 11) 
--------------------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Protestant Community Fined 
 
On July 14, the Baranovichy city court fined Protestant New 
Generation Church $120 for holding on June 21 an "illegal" 
prayer service "to break curses and evil spells".  Local 
ideology officials alleged that the service was beyond Church's 
scope of activities stipulated by its charter.  Protestant 
lawyers opined that the Church did not violate religious laws 
and said they would appeal the fine. 
 
¶3. Belarusian Popular Front Youth Member Expelled 
 
Human rights portals reported on July 13 that Belarusian Popular 
Front youth group member Pavel Chuduk, a second year student, 
was expelled from the theological department of the Belarus 
State University for ostensibly failing to pass two exams in 
June 2009.  Earlier in the year, Chuduk had been in Sweden where 
he observed the European Parliament elections.  Upon his return 
to Belarus, he was summoned by the department's management and 
accused of participating in political activities and opposition 
demonstrations. 
 
¶4. Independent Journalists Warned 
 
On July 14, the Minsk City Prosecutor's Office issued warnings 
to independent journalists Oksana and Aleksandr Kalinin for 
engaging in "illegal journalist activities".  The two were 
charged with filming footage and making press reports for a 
Russian TV channel not accredited with the Belarus Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs. 
 
¶5. Jailed Volkovysk Activist Stops Hunger Strike 
 
According to his lawyer, jailed Volkovysk activist Nikolay 
Avtukhovich stopped his three-month hunger strike on July 16 
after losing over 35 kilograms and an increasingly ailing health 
condition.  Lawyer Pavel Sapelko maintained that Avtukhovich's 
health was "critical" to his successful defense as he was 
becoming too "weak" to effectively participate in the 
preparation of his case let alone serve as witness in his own 
defense. 
 
¶6. Human Rights Advocate Heavily Fined 
 
On July 16, the Vitebsk Oblast court fined local human rights 
advocate Leonid Svetik approximately $11,000 for allegedly 
inciting religious and ethnic hatred.  Svetik was accused of 
sending out letters threatening various Vitebsk opposition 
activists on behalf of the unregistered ultranationalist group, 
Russian National Unity.  Svetik dismissed all the charges and 
linked the heavy fine with his active human rights advocacy. 
The defense lawyer had outlined numerous violations during 
preliminary investigations, called the case "a terrible 
provocation" and stated that they would appeal the fine. 
 
¶7. Police Violently Disperse Opposition Demonstrations 
 
On July 16, according to multiple press reports, riot police 
brutally dispersed numerous opposition demonstrations marking 
the monthly Day of Solidarity and detained over 60 democratic 
activists and a journalist across Belarus.  "European Belarus" 
(EB) civil campaign leader Evgeniy Afnagel alleged that law 
 
MINSK 00000244  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
enforcement officers assaulted him and his five associates while 
they were being transported to a police station.  The activists 
had been demonstrating their support for jailed Volkovysk 
activists close to the facility where he is being held.  Five 
other EB activists were apprehended for holding a prayer service 
at the footsteps of a former Bernardine monastery.  In separate 
incidents, police apprehended approximately 20 Young Democrats 
group members for alleged ID checks in downtown Minsk.  Over 15 
Malady Front (MF) and other opposition youth activists were 
detained during a demonstration at the central Oktyabrskaya 
Square in support of convicted MF member Artyom Dubskiy. 
Maladaya Belarus group leader Artur Finkevich as well as youth 
activist Andrey Kim reported that they were beaten at a police 
station.  Moreover, police detained independent correspondent 
Vadim Zamirovskiy for purportedly using a fraudulent journalist 
ID.  In Vitebsk and Baranovichy, law enforcement officers 
dispersed and also arrested over a dozen of activists.  All of 
the detained were released without charge later that day. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶8. Medvedev favors separate WTO accession for Russia, Belarus 
and Kazakhstan 
 
According to media reports, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev 
opined July 10 during his stay in Italy's L'Aquila at G8 Summit 
that joint WTO accession of the members of the Customs Union of 
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan "would be nice but problematic" 
and suggested individual accession as a simpler and more 
realistic alternative though based on common standards and 
stances of the Customs Union members.   This marks a complete 
reversal of Russia and its partners' original policy.  In early 
June, Premiers of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan told reporters 
of their intention to notify the WTO of the termination of 
individual accession talks and the intent to replace them with 
negotiations on behalf of the whole Customs Union.  So far, 
Belarus senior government officials made no official comment in 
response to Medvedev's statement. 
 
¶9. Belarus sees slump in its through-May trade in oil and oil 
products 
 
According to the data posted on July 13 by the National 
Statistics Committee, the country's exports of oil and oil 
products through May fell year-on-year 44.7 and 53 percent, 
respectively.  The decline in imports of the same products was 
49 and 17.1 percent. 
 
¶10. 2009 privatization virtually stalled 
 
On July 14, Belarus' State Property Committee announced that so 
far in 2009 only two state enterprises have been transformed 
from state to open joint-stock companies (JSC), but nevertheless 
the objective of transforming 208 state-controlled companies, 
including major heavy-duty trucks producer BelAZ, into JSCs as a 
precursor to privatization remained the Committee's objective. 
The second part of the plan is to sell stocks to private owners; 
however, no procedures have been drafted thus far.  Under the 
Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) for Belarus approved in January and 
amended in June the IMF expects the GOB to enact "a 
privatization law that conforms to best practices", and 
establish "a privatization agency capable of advancing an 
ambitious privatization agenda". 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶11. Answering a question in an interview to Austria's Die Presse 
daily about his younger son Nikolai as his potential successor 
Lukashenka said: 
 
"I don't think I will live up to the time when under the 
Constitution he will be able to run for office.  My statement on 
the successor was just a joke". 
SCANLAN