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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MINSK 000574 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY REPORT - May 26, 2006 
 
Ref: Minsk 459 
 
MINSK 00000574  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by 
Embassy Minsk. 
 
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International Relations 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  Iran To Aid Belarus' Nuclear Industry, Lukashenko To Visit Iran 
 
On May 25, Iranian Ambassador Abdolhamid Fekri said at a news 
conference in Minsk that Iran might assist Belarus in building a 
nuclear power plant. Fekri said that assistance would comply with 
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He described Iran's nuclear 
research programs as peaceful and designed to foster economic and 
scientific development. Fekri also announced that Belarusian 
President Lukashenko will visit Iran and meet with President Mahmud 
Ahmadinejad. The ambassador said that trade and economic relations 
would be discussed during the visit and that the Iranian president 
would pay a return visit to Belarus if he received an invitation. 
Fekri noted that Belarus and Iran have similar positions on many 
international issues and both oppose a unipolar world. 
 
¶3.  Moldovan, Georgian Wines To Stay on Shelves 
 
On May 19, Mikhail Rimzha, Belarus' chief sanitary expert, told 
reporters that Georgian and Moldovan wines would not be banned in 
Belarus. Russia recently alleged that the wines contain high levels 
of pesticides and suspended imports from Moldova and Georgia. 
Although Belarus has no pesticide standards for wine Rimzha said 
that Belarusian experts tested 3,000 samples of Georgian and 
Moldovan wines and found between 10 and 100 times less pesticide 
than the maximum allowable level for juices. Rimzha also ordered 
testing of Georgia's Borjomi mineral water, which Russia has 
banned. 
 
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Post-Elections 
-------------- 
 
¶4.  Belarusian Popular Front Headquarters Vandalized 
 
On May 23, vandals splashed black paint on the door of the 
Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) headquarters in Minsk and painted 
symbols for the Russian National Bolsheviks on the pavement in 
front of its entrance.  Vandals also splashed the nearby office of 
the Francisak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society (BLS). Vintsuk 
Vyachorka, BPF Chairman, stated, "Our headquarters is watched 
around the clock and the Police Academy is in the next building, 
but the vandals mysteriously managed to do their job." According to 
Vyachorka the BPF does not intend to report the incident to the 
police since past reports were ignored. Vyachorka remarked, "Secret 
services monitor opposition Web sites, searching for tips on 
planned flash mobs and other protests by democratic forces. But 
they take little interest in communist fascist sites, on which 
National Bolsheviks openly boast of their acts." 
 
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Human Rights 
------------ 
 
¶5.  Justice Ministry Seeks to Suspend Helsinki Committee 
 
On May 26, Belarus' Justice Ministry filed suit with the Supreme 
Court to suspend the activities of the Belarusian Helsinki 
Committee (BHC).  The Justice Ministry accuses the BHC of violating 
Belarusian law and its charter by sending non-members to observe 
the 2004 parliamentary elections, using residential premises as its 
legal address, and missing the deadline for paying taxes.  BHC 
Chairperson Tatyana Protko described the suit as the "first 
reaction to the president's address to the nation and the 
legislature about the need for dialog between civil society and the 
government." Protko said that the authorities had dropped a tax 
evasion case against BHC but the Justice Ministry is still using 
that accusation in its suit. 
 
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Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶6.  Milinkevich Warned against Discrediting Belarus 
 
On May 22, opposition leader Aleksandr Milinkevich was summoned to 
the Minsk City Prosecutor's Office where he was issued a warning 
regarding his March 31 interview with the Polish newspaper 
Rzeczpospolita.  According to the prosecutor's office, Milinkevich 
accused Belarusian authorities of involvment in the death of the 
Polish Vice Consul in Grodno, Ryszard Badon-Lehr. Moreover, 
authorities questioned Milinkevich about an interview with BBC in 
which he allegedly characterized the presidential election in March 
 
MINSK 00000574  002 OF 003 
 
 
as a coup and stated that Aleksandr Lukashenko had no right to run 
for a third term. The office warned Milinkevich that he might be 
subject to criminal prosecution and two years in prison for 
disseminating false information that discredited Belarus. 
Milinkevich maintains that he never said authorities were involved 
the Polish Vice Consul's death but that they might have been 
involved. 
 
¶7.  Deputy Chairman of Belarusian Popular Front Released from Jail 
 
On May 19, Belarusian authorities released Viktor Ivashkevich, 
Deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), from jail 
following his 15-day term imposed for organizing an opposition 
demonstration on the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear 
accident. The court found Ivashkevich guilty of organizing a 
demonstration.  Ivashkevich was the sixth opposition leader jailed 
for the Chernobylski Shlyakh (Path of Chernobyl) demonstration.  On 
April 27, former presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich, BPF 
Chairman Vintsuk Vyachorka, and union leader Aleksandr Bukhvostov 
were sentenced to 15 days in jail for their participation in the 
demonstration. Sergei Kalyakin, leader of the Belarusian Party of 
Communists, and youth opposition leader Dmitry Dashkevich received 
14-day jail sentences. 
 
¶8.  Justice Ministry Ends Closure Suit against Writers Union 
 
On May 22, the Belarusian Ministry of Justice withdrew its lawsuit 
to close the Union of Belarusian Writers (UBW). The Ministry 
charged the Union with organizing a conference of the Belarusian 
Social Democratic Party "Hramada" (BSDP) at the House of Writers 
cafeteria. Other charges included using the banned emblem Pahonya 
in the entrance sign for the House of Writers and using for four 
months a stamp featuring the Union's name without inverted commas. 
Proceedings began on April 6 but were adjourned on May 5 after the 
plaintiff failed to prove UBW's involvement with the conference. 
Within two weeks, the UBW removed the Pahonya emblem and fulfilled 
the two other demands. 
 
¶9.  Customs Officers Detain Viktor Karnienko 
 
Authorities detained Viktor Karneenko, a former deputy chairman 
of Aleksandr Milinkevich's campaign headquarters and a member 
of the Political Council of Democratic Forces, at Minsk airport 
as he was traveling to Copenhagen for a conference on Belarus. 
Customs officers delayed the flight and inspected Karnienko's 
bag for an hour. According to Karnienko, officials were looking 
for documents but found nothing of interest. 
 
¶10.  Belarusian Prosecutor Says False Testimony Not Prosecutable 
 
The prosecutor of Chyhunachny district of Gomel, G.N. Ramaniuk, 
stated that in administrative cases the law "does not envisage 
warning of citizens about accountability for false testimony" 
and therefore witnesses cannot be charged.  Ramananiuk was 
answering an appeal by Vladimir Katsora, the head of 
presidential candidate Aleksandr Milinkevich's campaign 
headquarters.  Katsora asked the prosecutor's office to 
prosecute the deputy head of the police department of 
Chyhunachny district, S.V.Nyaznaeu, and two others for giving 
false testimony. Nyaznaeu, who was in charge of Katsora's 
detention, testified in the court that the activist resisted 
violently during the detention. Katsora awaits another appeal 
concerning his 15-day detention in connection to April's Path 
of Chernobyl protest. 
 
¶11.  Private Newspaper Warned by Information Ministry 
 
   In a letter to the editor dated May 12, the Belarusian 
Information Minister, Vladimir Rusakevich, accused the private 
Novopolotsk-based newspaper "Khimik" of publishing advertisements 
in several issues without verifying the advertisers' licenses in 
violation of Article 30 of the Media Law. Editor Sergey Balay 
described the warning as unfounded and plans to appeal to the 
Supreme Economic Court of Belarus.  Last month the Novopolotsk 
Prosecutor's Office questioned Balay about claims from the local 
government's ideology office that the bi-weekly broke the law by 
changing publication periodicity, reprinting television programming 
without permission, publishing an opinion poll allegedly conducted 
by an unlicensed pollster and an interview with presidential 
candidate Aleksandr Kozulin. 
 
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Economy 
------- 
 
¶12.  Finished Product Inventories Up 31% from January through April 
 
On May 21, Belarus' Ministry of Statistics and Analysis reported 
that industrial enterprises' finished product inventories increased 
by 31.3% in the first four months of 2006. As of April 1, 
inventories accounted for 58.3 percent of average monthly 
 
MINSK 00000574  003 OF 003 
 
 
production.  The largest proportion of unsold goods was in the 
textile, clothing, metalworking, machinery, and building-materials 
industries. 
 
----------------- 
Quote of the Week 
----------------- 
 
¶13.  During his annual address to parliament, Aleksandr Lukashenko 
offered this insight regarding democracy and civic responsibility: 
 
"The government will continue creating the most favorable 
conditions to enable our citizens to realize their ambitions and 
actively engage in state affairs. But it's well known that it is 
impossible to live in society and be free from it. This means that 
one should know not only how to govern but also how to obey." 
 
KROL