Kurapaty standoff: Dashkevich says tents near restaurant not feasible | euroradio.fm

Activists
should not put up tents near the restaurant 'Poedem, Poedim' situated
on the Kurapaty memorial in Minsk's suburbs because it is not feasible, Zmicier Dashkevich said in a video stream on Facebook.


Tents near Kurapaty will not yield a good result because few people
will be able to participate in this struggle, Dashkevich reckons. “Maybe
a dozen people will stay there for a few weeks but the number will be
decreasing with time,” he said.


The activist suggested two other forms of protest. Firstly, an
economic boycott can be started. Journalists have found out who the
owner of the restaurant is and it would be worth boycotting their
businesses, Dashkevich said.


He also suggested exercising moral pressure on visitors and employees
of the restaurant: leaflets containing information about Kurapaty
should be given out.


“Kurapaty is a sacred place, you cannot do one thing today and
something else tomorrow," Dashkevich argues. He also suggests that
activists should take stock of their resources before organizing the
defense of Kurapaty.


Pavel Sevyarynts detained by the police yesterday evening has already been released, Dashkevich said.
https://euroradio.fm/en/dashkevich-installing-tents-near-restaurant-kurapaty-unreasonable

NATO sees no threat in West-2017 military exercise

NATO sees no threat in the military exercise West-2017, Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg told journalists after the exchange of information between Russia and NATO.

Any country has the right to conduct manoeuvres and there is no need to see a threat in it, Stoltenberg said.
Russia has informed the other states about the number of soldiers that will participate in the manoeuvres and about the number of air forces. This number does not exceed the limit indicated in the Vienna Document.
The number of soldiers participating in the manoeuvres may be bigger than declared, NATO thinks.  However, the alliance still sees no threat in it.
The military exercise West-2017 will be conducted on September 14-20. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will watch them.

Kilde:  https://euroradio.fm/en/nato-sees-no-threat-west-2017-military-exercise

Belarus raised export duties on oil and oil products

On July 1, Belarus increased the export duties on oil and oil products exported outside the EurAsEC customs territory.
According to BelaPAN with reference to the press service of the Belarusian government, the decision is based on the Decree #484 of the Council of Ministers passed on 27 June 2017.
The crude oil export duty has risen from 80 to 80.9 dollars per ton, for gasoline — from 44 to 44.4, for the light and middle distillates — from 24 to 24.2. The same duty was set for diesel fuel, benzene, and other kinds of lubricating oils.
Previously, the rates were reduced on June 1, 2017, but before that they rose in March, February, and last fall.
belsat.eu

Why were patriots released?

On June 30, Miraslau Lazouski, the last suspect in the 'patriots' case', walked out free after having spent three months and ten days behind bars. However, the criminal case against the former leader of White Legion remains open. He and other fellow 'patriots' face charges of forming an illegal armed unit. At the same time, it is hardly a coincidence that 11 people connected to this criminal case were released in the course of three days.

Why did authorities open the 'patriots case'?

The 'White Legion' criminal case (also known as the 'riot case' or the 'patriots case') was opened after Aliaksandr Lukashenka's statement about "a bootcamp to train rebels in a forest near Asipovichy." Detentions took place in the evening of March 21. The first detainees were the former White Legion leader Miraslau Lazouski, book seller Ales Yaudakha, and a Ministry of Emergency officer Andrei Dundukou. A total of over 20 people ended up in jail.

"The tasks that the regime planned to achieve using the 'riot case' have been accomplished," reckons political commentator Yury Chavusau. "It was mainly about propagana aiming to adjust public opinion inside the country. The case was opened in March 2017, the time when a wave of social and politial protests swept across the country. The protests were significant, prompting the authorities to return to the old repressive tactics: hundreds of detainees, dispursed demonstrations and the climax - Freedom Day on March 25 when an opposition action did not actuallytake place after security forces had blocked the city center in Minsk.
The authorites initiated this politically motivated case in order to adjust the image of law-enforcement agencies. State-run newspaper headlines lamented about a thwarted coup d'etat, while TV propaganda and fabricated videos showed 'horror stories' about "Belarusian radicals." The state simply invented this case in order to divert public discontent away from the law-enforcement agencies busy with suppressing social protests."

"I would like to remind you that detentions of [patriots] took place when Belarus de facto was in a grave economic situation. The oil and gas dispute with Russia had not been resolved yet," says political analyst Аles Lahviniec. The 'patriots case' was a clear signal to Moscow."

Patriots released before the Independence Day parade?

Why were the patriots released this week? Jokers on social media suggested that Lazouski &Co would take part in the Independence Day parade instead of Russian paratroopers who are not participating this year. However, on a more serious note political commentators link their release with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session that Minsk will host next week.

"There is a direct connection," believes Ales Lahviniec. "Obviously, the White Legion case was far-fetched. Now it is simply falling apart. In order to avoid protests during the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session, the authorities have moved to release the prisoners. Based on the previous experience, authorities in Belarus release prisoners "in bulk" when they wish to please the West. The people who stayed for over three months behind bars were simply hostages. Now that they are released, the authoirites like as if they have made some progress."

"The protests have died out. In this situation, the 'patriots case' has turned into an obstruction at the foreign political scene. It is a fact that the European Union did not stop cooperation with Belarus but nevertheless European leaders expressed concern over the situation," Yury Chavusau continues. As a result, all of the suspects were cleared of the preparation for a riot charges. Does it mean that all the charges published on the front pages by state-run newspapers were lies?"

What do Belarus authorities want from Europe?

Minsk will bring its game it started three months ago to the end. However, it is too early to say that by releasing all the patriots the government will manage to mitigate all possible foreign policy consequences. Political analyst Andrei Kazakevich reckons the EU will obviously welcome the release of political prisoners and adds that the release of Lazouski has no specific purpose:
"This step is not about gaining something new. Rather, it is about not creating new obstacles for good dynamics that can be currently observed in the Belarus-EU relations."

Andrei Kazakevich. Photo: Euroradio

"The patriots' case was a preventive psychological action against radicalization," Kazakevich continues. "[It was done] in order to demonstrate those who felt they had an opportunity to mobilize the population for more protests that there was no space for liberalization and that the authorities were prepared to respond. The case turned out to be psychologically effective. Foreign policy losses were minimal. The Belarus authorities have managed to preserve their face in relations with Europe."
Kazakevich reckons the patriots' case will not be closed and end up in court. But he expects no harsh sentences.

Oswald. The Minsk Mystery

The reputed Belarusian filmmaker Viktar Aslyuk has filmed the documentary ‘Oswald. The Minsk Mystery’.


In the film, Ernst Tsitavets, a resident of Minsk, relives certain experiences and tells about his friend Lee Harvey Oswald, the person who is allegedly responsible for assassinating U.S. President John F. Kennedy in
1963. The documentary is set in the block of flats Nr 4 in
Kamunistychnaya street, in the very apartment where the American
‘tourist’ lived after his arrival in Minsk. Ernst Tsitavets was then a
medical student and loyal Komsomol member, who, however, secretly
listened to the BBC. There they disputed on the standards of life is
better in the West and in the USSR.


“I did not keep my promises to make a great film, an extensive
investigation for, perhaps, only one reason – there are very few
witnesses left. Time was lost, I had to narrow it down, and finally, I
focused on the apartment.


The apartment has hardly changed. Its parket flooring, bathtub,
toilet, ceiling remain authentic. As a film director, I realized that
hundreds of movies telling the story of Oswald were made. And I did not
set the task to give a final answer to the question whether Oswald
killed or he did not. But I knew that there was one man in the city who
rarely appeared in films. He was one of the people who were close to
Oswald in his Minsk period – or even in his whole life, because Oswald’s
life was very short. […] Of course, in this case, I decided to follow
my character. I do not judge and do not intend to judge Oswald – it is
not my aim. But my character – Ernst Tsitavets – believes that Oswald
did not kill. And it is his emotional right, human right to think so.


When I started, I saw that anyone who would ever dig at this issue –
Oswald in Minsk – would touch the issue of Minsk itself without doubt.
The issue of the 1960s, when this man came and lived here. I admit
having a soft spot on the 1960s – maybe, due to old Soviet films. My
documentary features the best footage of the then cameramen,” the famous
film director told Belsat TV.




Belsat.eu

Canada lifts Belarus sanctions after 11 years

Canada is proceeding with a plan to ease trade restrictions imposed on Belarus 11 years ago, reports CBC News.
Canada's Foreign Ministry aka Global Affairs Canada said in a statement on Monday:
"This revised approach reflects Canada's acknowledgment that the government of Belarus has made progress in key areas, including the release of political prisoners and conducting a peaceful presidential election in October 2015. Canada also recognizes the constructive role played by Belarus in facilitating negotiations toward a ceasefire and peace agreement in Ukraine under the Minsk agreement."
After the new measure takes effect on July 12, 2017, only North Korea will remain on the restrictions list.
Ottawa imposed economic sanctions on Belarus over human rights violations during the presiential elections and a crackdown on the opposition.

Regnum publishes interview with Alexievich without permission

The Russian information agency Regnum has published an interview with Svetlana Alexievich without her consent.  The Nobel Prize laureate did not expect to be asked provocative questions.  Alexievich called the journalist’s statement about a coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014 absurd. “It was people’s desire to change the government,” she noted. However, the Regnum journalist would not calm down and kept insisting on ‘a coup d’état’. “When Ukrainians started protecting their country, you mentioned human rights that were not observed at war. You, Russians, behaved even worse in Chechnya,” the writer said.

Then they discussed the Ukrainian and Belarusian languages. Alexievich recalled the Russification and elimination of the Belarusian intellectual elite in the Soviet time and the 3 million Russians that came to Belarus after the WWII. Russia wants to absorb Ukraine and our country by means of Russification, she believes. Svetlana Alexievich touched upon the problems of freedom in modern Russia and the journalists did not like it. He asked her why she would not go to Donets Basin since she was writing about war. Russia was directly involved in the conflict in East Ukraine and “it is on Putin’s conscience”, Alexievich stressed.
“You invaded another country, why?” the writer asked. “There are millions of photos of Russian military machines there. Everyone knows who took down [that plane] and all this. Let us stop this stupid interview. I haven’t the energy for it. You are just a collection of propaganda, not a reasonable person.”

Kilde: https://euroradio.fm/en/regnum-publishes-interview-alexievich-without-permission