VZCZCXRO4980
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVL #0318/01 1260440
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050440Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2248
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0221
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000318 
 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON ENRG BO
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MINSK WEEKLY POL/ECON REPORT - May 02, 2008 
 
¶1.  The following are brief items of interest compiled by Embassy 
Minsk. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
- Prominent Protestant Pastor Fined (para. 2) 
- Police Confiscate Independent Newspaper Print Run (para. 3) 
- BKGB Drops Case against Opposition Youth (para. 4) 
- Opposition Leader Briefly Detained (para. 5) 
- Gomel Opposition Continues To Face Harassment (para. 6) 
 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
- Nuke Opponents Labeled "Enemies of the People" (para. 7) 
 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
- Lukashenko: Investment Climate to be in Top 30 (para. 8) 
 
Quote of the Week (para. 9) 
----------------- 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶2.  Prominent Protestant Pastor Fined 
 
A Minsk district court fined prominent Protestant Leader and New 
Life Church (NLC) pastor Vyacheslav Goncharenko BYR 1,400,000 (USD 
650) April 25 for organizing a signature campaign to petition 
amendments to the 2002 religion law.  The judge ruled that campaign 
organizers failed to seek approval of draft amendments from the 
Justice Ministry and to register the group collecting signatures. 
Goncharenko denounced the fine as unjust and maintained that no 
legitimate legal tools exist in Belarus to push for change of the 
religion laws.  NLC lawyer Sergey Lukanin is set to stand trial for 
the same offense. 
 
¶3.  Police Confiscate Independent Newspaper Print Run 
 
Police officers confiscated hundreds of copies of independent 
newspaper "Vitebskiy Kuryer M" April 25 from opposition activist and 
distributor Valery Shchukin in Vitebsk.  The officers violently 
apprehended Shchukin at a bus stop upon his arrival from Smolensk, 
Russia, where the newspaper is printed.  He was discharged the next 
day and is now facing administrative charges on violating newspaper 
distribution procedures. 
 
¶4.  BKGB Drops Case against Opposition Youth 
 
The Gomel BKGB office closed a criminal case against local Malady 
Front activist Andrey Tenyuta April 25.  Senior investigator Dmitriy 
Sedlerov informed Tenyuta in an official letter that the charges of 
participating in an unregistered organization were dropped, and that 
the BKGB would return a computer and other personal belongings 
seized from him in October 2007. 
 
¶5.  Opposition Leader Briefly Detained 
 
The police detained United Civic Party (UCP) leader Anatoliy 
Lebedko, three UCP youth activists, and an independent journalist in 
downtown Minsk April 29 for passing out copies of the bi-weekly 
"Narodnaya Volya."  They also prevented Lebedko from delivering the 
UCP-prepared "Alternate State of the Nation" Address to Parliament. 
The five were transported to a precinct office and released three 
hours later without charge. 
 
¶6.  Gomel Opposition Continues To Face Harassment 
 
A Gomel district court sentenced local Belarusian Christian 
Democracy activist Sergey Trifonov to 10 days in jail April 28 and 
opposition youth Mariya Tulzhenkova to 7 days in jail April 25.  The 
two were found guilty of participating in an unauthorized March 23 
demonstration celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian 
National Republic.  The police arrested Trifonov April 25 after he 
did not attend an April 23 court hearing. 
 
---------------- 
Domestic Economy 
---------------- 
 
¶7.  Nuke Opponents Labeled "Enemies of the People" 
 
VILNIUS 00000318  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
While visiting the Gomel region April 26 to pay tribute to the 
victims of the Chernobyl disaster, Lukashenko called opponents of 
plans to build a nuclear power plant "enemies of people."  He 
asserted that opponents protest simply to gain political recognition 
and are not genuinely concerned about safety.  Since neighboring 
countries already have nuclear plants, Lukashenko stated such 
opposition "makes no sense." 
 
------------------- 
International Trade 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  Lukashenko: Investment Climate to be in Top 30 
 
Speaking to Parliament on April 29, Aleksandr Lukashenko announced 
his goal to make country's investment climate rank among the world's 
top 30.  He did not elaborate on timing, but instructed the 
government to develop appropriate support mechanisms and reduce red 
tape.  Lukashenko said he believes Belarus was wise to be cautious 
about foreign investment and pointed out that large multinationals 
such as Commerzbank and Heineken "line up to" secure his clearance 
on investing in Belarus.  During a trip to Gomel on April 26, 
Lukashenko opined that foreign investors would enter Belarus "no 
matter what leadership we have here, because we are in the center of 
Europe." 
 
---------------------- 
¶9.  Quote of the Week 
---------------------- 
 
Aleksandr Lukashenko, touching upon succession plans while 
commenting on pro-government NGO Belaya Rus: 
 
"They say that this organization was developed for the benefit of 
the future president, and that the next president will be my older 
son.  But I have already said that it's my younger son who will be 
president of Belarus." 
 
Moore 
Cloud