Justice Ministry suspends registration of 'Belarusian Christian Democracy' party

The Ministry of Justice has suspended the state registration of the party "Belarusian Christian Democracy". According to the press service of the "Belarusian Christian Democracy," the Ministry of Justice notified the organizing committee of the party by a letter.
By law, the Ministry of Justice is to decide on party registration or refusal within one month after documents are filed. However, officials have the opportunity to suspend the registration to study additional documents.
One of the commentators on the BCD website has suggested that the Belarusian authorities are dawdling until the EU lifts the visa restrictions. The decision to register the BCD has been postponed until February, when the EU plans to address the issue of sanctions against Belarusian officials.
The founding congress of the party was held in Minsk on December 12, 2015. Documents for registration were transferred to the Ministry of Justice on 24 December.
The BCD organizing committee has already received five refusals of registration since 2009. Also, the Christian Democrats of Belarus have unsuccessfully tried   to register as a regional or national association.

Reporters Without Borders Condemned OMON Beating Of Journalist

Photo from 9TV.CO.IL

Human rights activists point out that, despite the release of political prisoners, the situation of human rights in Belarus is “still catastrophic”.

The human rights organization Reporters Without Borders has condemned the beating of Tut.by reporter Pavel Dabravolski by the police, along with other violations of the rights of journalists. The human rights organization issued a special statement on that and published it on its website, Tut.by reports.
The human rights activists point out that, despite the release of political prisoners, the situation of human rights in Belarus is “still catastrophic”. On the results of 2015 Belarus was ranked 157th out of 180 countries in the organization’s latest World Press Freedom Index.
“Independent journalists must cease at once to be the targets of judicial harassment and police brutality.” – said Johan Beer, the head of the Reporters Without Borders for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The organization considers the recent beating of Pavel Dabravolski by riot policemen in the court of Frunzenski district to be an example of such “police brutality”. The circumstances of the attack on TUT.BY website reporter and the subsequent trial (where the witnesses were the police officers who beat him) are described in details in the statement.
The wave of 28 fines to journalists working for foreign media in 2015 is another example of journalist rights’ violations given in Reporters Without Borders’ statement. The human rights organization calls such pressure “a classic Belarusian set-up”: first independent media inside Belarus are systematically denied accreditation, allowing to fine journalists for cooperation with foreign media later. The latest victims in 2016 include Kanstantsin Zhukouski, who was fined on 14 and 20 January totalling to Br13.65 million (612 euros), and Larysa Shchyrakova, who was fined Br4.62 million (221 euros) for cooperation with Belsat TV channel.

Journalist gets beaten then fined in Minsk court

Photo: Vadim Zamirouski, tut.by

Tut.by journalist Pavel Dabravolski was beaten in the court of the Frunze district of Minsk. It happened at the trial of the "graffiti case." Dabravolski was filming police take Pavel Syarhei and Maxim Shitsik out of the room for organizing a protest (see. Video).
According to tut.by with reference to human rights defenders, the detained activists and journalists were beaten in one of the premises of the Court. After that they were taken to the police station, where an administrative report under article "contempt of court" and "disobeying the official" were filed against them. Later Syarhei, Shitsikau and Dabravolski were taken back to court. The first of them was fined 10.5 million rubles, the rest - 9.45 million. This decision was passed by the Judge Maryia Yarokhina, with police officer Syarhei Kavalchuk as witness.
Pavel Dabravolski said that several riot police officers beat him with their feet for 20 minutes. However, they clearly saw the journalist ID. According to Dabravolsky, they took his phone, and erased all the data.

Film about Mikhail Zhyzneusky premieres on Belsat

The film “Mikhail Zhyzneusky. Warrior of Light” is available online
The film, created by Mikhail Arshynsky with the support of Belsat tells a story about the life of Mikhail Zhyzneusky who defended the independence of Ukraine and tragically died on the Maidan. The documentary is based on the memories and stories of colleagues, friends and family of Mikhail.

Mikhail Zhyzneusky was born in Homiel in 1988. From his youth he was interested in historical battle reconstruction. He took up fencing and made ammunition in the local Youth House. At the age of 17 he went to Ukraine. At first it was hard for him: he had no job, place to stay, friends. The turning point was moving to the Bila Tserkva. Following his friend, he got in the ranks of Ukrainian UNSO organization.
“He had a talent for fighting with swords. He had the bodily strength. He was physically strong and fit. He knew how to fight with swords, shields. It was his huge bonus on the Maidan, in fact at the forefront were the guys with experience in the historical re-enactments, who were able to make their own ammunition,” said one of the companions of Mikhail Alyaksandr Patsikha.
Zhyzneusky was also a member of airsoft company “Griffins”, where he practiced the skills necessary for fighting. He went to the Maidan as commander of Bila Tserkva UNSO unit and was a representative of the “Samooborona” self-defense unit.
Despite extensive experience in battle reconstruction and improvised fighting, Mikhail was very restrained and responsible man who believed in the cause. He came from a simple family, but was different not in its origin but his character: he was stubborn, brave and energetic.
Mikhail Zhyzneusky tragically died on January 22, 2014. He was shot to the heart on the Grushevskogo street in Kyiv.

Activist Hung Out Banner “No To Political Repressions!” During Hearing On ‘Graffiti Case’

Today's trial started with a demarche of one of those present: the guy chanted “No to political repressions!” and “Art is not a crime!”

Hearing on the “Graffiti case” was started in the court of Frunzenski district of Minsk. Maxim Piakarski, Vadzim Zharomski and Viachaslau Kasinerau, the artists who created the graffiti “Belarus Must Be Belarusian,” and “Revolution of consciousness is already underway…”, appeared in the court. The police considered it to be a crime because there was a young man holding something resembling a Molotov cocktail on one of those graffiti.
Today’s hearing started with a demarche of one of those present. The guy chanted “No to political repressions!” and “Art is not a crime!” “This is not a trial, but a circus!”, - the guy shouted out in a voice trembling with intense emotions. The judge ordered to withdraw him from the court, Nasha Niva reports.
The court denied the request of graffiti artists to conduct the trial in Belarusian language.
All three graffiti artists pleaded not guilty. Vadzim Zharomski said: “I did it, but I don’t accept the qualifications. We did no harm to anyone.”

photo: belsat.eu

We remind that on August 11 five men were violently arrested on suspicion of involvement in three criminal cases: painting two graffiti in Belarusian language, “Belarus Must Be Belarusian,” and “Revolution of consciousness is already underway…”, and painting over a social billboard with an image of policemen. The Investigative Committee accused Maxim Piakarski, Vadzim Zharomski and Viachaslau Kasinerau under Article 339 part 2, “Hooliganism committed by a group of persons.”

Kilde :  http://charter97.org/en/news/2016/1/25/188395/

Linas Linkevičius: Nobody plans to conduct reforms for Belarus

The isolation of Belarus from the EU has not been justified, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said at a press conference on January 5.
The EU has a single strategy as regards Belarus and Lithuania can influence the strategy, the diplomat claimed. “We used to observe and wait. We also used to build walls which resulted in isolation but the isolation has hardly been justified. This isolation limits cooperation and removes the possibilities of establishing contacts. We have proved that our contacts and interaction have brought some results. Giving motivation for changes and relaxing the pressure is part of this strategy,” ru.delfi.lt quotes Linkevičius.

Nobody is planning to do anything including reforms and choosing the way of development for Belarus, the Lithuanian diplomat noted. However, there is a hope that the Belarusian state will be changing as a result of contacts with the Western countries.
Armenia (that joined the Customs Union not long ago) wants to sign a special agreement with the EU, Linkevičius added. Belarus also intends to do it, he said. This variant is possible, he believes: “Anything that lets our neighbours establish relations with the EU and find mutually interesting things without forgetting about the democratic values and without getting back to violence would be good. We have seen violence and we do not want it to repeat. This is a term and the rest is part of the strategy.”
Photo: delfi.lt

Belarus seeks to build new relations with EU

Belarus would like to build relations with the European Union on the basis of new documents Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makei said on Belarus 1 on January 3. Belarus-EU cooperation is developping on the basis of documents signed by the Soviet Union and the European Economic Community, he said.

According to the Minister, the suspension of the EU sanctions imposed on Belarusian officials is just an interim step. “The restrictions should be cancelled and it would allow our cooperation with European partners to reach a new level,” BelaPAN quotes the Belarusian Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Belarus has told European partners about the inadmissibility of new terms before the cancellation of all sanctions, Makei stressed.

Photo: ByMedia