Belarus Must Be an Independent European State
A Statement by the Sojm of the Party of BPF
The Party of BPF has always stood for friendly and mutually beneficial relations of Belarus with all its neighbours including the Russian Federation. At the same time, we have consistently maintained the need to preserve our country's independence. Now finally, the political leadership of Russia has admitted that the majority of the people of Belarus support their country's independence, and have at the same time admitted that it is impossible to combine state sovereignty with entering into a "union" state [of Russia and Belarus]. This puts an end to the myth that Alexander Lukashenka has been exploiting for a long time.
In the interest of the independence of Belarus and the restoration of a democratic order in our country, we stand:
We hope that these efforts to strengthen the independence of Belarus and bring about its democratisation will encounter understanding and further support both from our compatriots and from the democratic forces in Russia, and also from the USA, the countries of Europe and the international democratic community.
June 15, 2002, the city of Miensk
Repressions Will not Intimidate the Free Word!
Statement by the Uprava of the Party of BPF
Shameful sentences have been imposed on Mikalaj Markievich, member of the BPF Party and editor-in-chief of "Pahonia", and on Paval Mažejka, a journalist of that paper: namely two and a half and two years of ‘restricted freedom’ (i.e. forced hard labour) respectively. Such sentences and indeed such indictments are impossible in the civilised world. The authorities have demonstrated that they have no intention of restoring the country to democracy. The Party of the Belarusan Popular Front demands the annulment of this sentence.
In a completely analogous manner - that is, with no respect for the law - a new criminal case now has been launched against Viktar Ivaškievich, editor-in-chief of the "Rabochy" newspaper and deputy chairman of our party. Likewise, he is accused of "slander" (article l67-2 of the Criminal Code) and "insulting the President of Belarus" (article l68). He is charged with attempting to publish a special issue of the paper with a collection of materials on corruption in Lukashenka's entourage, entitled "A Criminal Should Be Jailed". The print-run of that issue was confiscated by the authorities in the run-up to the [presidential] elections last September.
The charges against Markievich and Mažejka, just as against Ivaškievich, are in fact purely political. The Belarusan Popular Front will struggle for its members and leaders, and will call for a sharp international reaction against this savage offensive against the freedom of speech in Belarus. The BPF will be mobilising its activists in Belarus for the struggle to change the political regime in the country, through on-going social actions and participation in the local elections campaign.
24 June 2002. The City of Miensk.
Jury Chadyka Is in Prison
BPF News Release
On the evening of July 5 2002, Professor Jury Chadyka, a deputy chairman of the Party of BPF, was forcibly detained by the police near his home, and taken to the "reception and transfer" prison compound on Akrexeicina Street.
On March 24 this year, Prof. Chadyka had part in the celebrations of ‘Freedom Day’ in the city of Horadnia (Hrodna). The event took place in an entirely peaceful manner; nevertheless Jury Chadyka, together with other activists was arrested by the militia. As a result of various measures, appeals and telephone enquiries by the Party of BPF, human right organisations, and the media, he was released, pending a court ruling on April 8. In the meantime Prof. Chadyka visited Prague where he delivered a series of lectures at the Charles University. He returning to Minsk and - as required - attended the court in Horadnia (Hrodna) on April 8. There judge Dziemchanka imposed on him the maximum sentence permitted under article 167 para 1 of the Code, i.e. 10 days in prison, in spite of the fact that Prof. Chadyka was neither an organiser of the event nor had he resisted arrest.
The police in Horadnia (Hrodna) did not enforce the sentence immediately, and Prof. Chadyka returned to Minsk. The term within which such an administrative sentence had to be enforced would be over on July 8. However, on late evening of July 5, Professor Chadyka was seized outside the doorway of his home, while walking his dog, and conveyed to the Akrexeicina Street prison. Hence three days before the sentence was due to expire, Jury Chadyka was thrown into prison for 10 days, in spite of his advanced age and poor state of health.
The Party of BPF demands an end to the mocking treatment over Prof. Chadyka, one of the BPF’s leaders. The party chairman Mr. Vincuk Viachorka has made the following statement:
"This ‘suspended’ reprisal against Prof. Chadyka is just one more illustration of the fact that the [Belarus] regime has no intention of putting on a human face. The court persecution of BPF member Mikalaj Markievich and journalist Paval Mažejka, the launching of a criminal case against yet another BPF deputy chairman Viktar Ivaškevich, the sadistic beating-up of the BPF member and artist Ales' Puškin, and finally the arrest of Jury Chadyka, all this are evidence of the hatred which Lukashenka’s regime has for free speech and independent thought. But we will not be intimidated."
5 July 2002. The City of Miensk.
On the Arrest of Paval Sieviaryniec
Statement by the Uprava of the Party of BPF
[Uprava of the BPF is the party's current affairs governing council]
On 27 July 1990 Belarus was proclaimed a sovereign state. This day is celebrated every year, since it brought Belarusans closer to their dream: independent existence in their civilised European state. And it is namely for this reason that the regime of Lukashenka has abolished July 27th as a public holiday and now sets its security forces on those who celebrate it.
This year, the July 27 Day of Declaration of Sovereignty was celebrated in Miensk (Minsk) as an expression of solidarity with the Belarusan independent press. The youth of the Belarusan Popular Front took part under the slogan: "Independent Press - Independent Country". The event in the centre of Miensk on the Novaje Miesta (Kastrycnickaja) Plaza was totally peaceful: about a hundred of young people made "a chain of independent publications", handing out newspapers and asking passers-by to sign a petition to the Hrodna oblast court requesting to cancel the sentences [recently imposed on] the journalists of Pahonia newspaper. Later groups of Young Front members made their way, keeping to the sidewalks [i.e. not obstructing the traffic] towards various government buildings to submit petitions demanding the freedom of the press.
After handing over such a petition and leaving the building of the State Prosecution Office, Paval Sieviaryniec, a deputy-chairman of the Party of BPF and the Chairman of the Young Front, was arrested without cause and in an insidious manner. Throughout the entire weekend he was kept in the Akrescina Street jail. During his trial on Monday July 29, judge Vajciachovic effectively refused him the right of legal defence, threatening that he would be put to jail to wait for a lawyer, and sentenced him to 10 days in prison, by Article 167 of the Code of Administrative Crimes (i.e. organising illegal rallies and demonstrations).
The substance of Lukashenka's regime has not changed at all: it fights those who defend the real independence of Belarus. The Party of the BPF is outraged by the groundless arrest of one of its leaders and demands the immediate liberation of Paval Sieviaryniec.
July 29 2002. The City of Miensk.