ABM -- Post-Referendum Events -- July and August, 1997

This File Last Updated: 1997/09/05

Post-Referendum Events -- July and August, 1997

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The Referendum of November, 1996 web page
Summary of Pre-Referendum Events web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, through December, 1996 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, January and February, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, March and April, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, May and June, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, September, 1997, to present web page

July, 1997

Lukashenka Opponents Convene in Mensk. The Second World Congress of Belarusians, which took place in Mensk on 26 July, accused Lukashenka of trying to destroy the Belarusian language and culture. Some 70 ethnic Belarusian representatives from 15 countries attended the congress, but Belarusians from the U.S. boycotted it. The congress condemned Lukashenka for recent actions, including closing Belarusian-language schools, and said the language is in danger of dying out. Vasil Bykov, Belarus's most famous writer, commented that "the leader of the state is not the leader of the nation." Lukashenka is using all his strength to destroy "the nation, its national consciousness, its culture, and language," Bykov added. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 82, Part II, 28 July 1997
Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 30 July asked reporters to convey to Lukashenka, that he is "indignant" over the Belarusian authorities' treatment of the ORT journalists and wants an explanation, Interfax reported. Speaking from Samara Oblast, where he is vacationing, Yeltsin warned that Russia may reconsider the union charter recently signed with Belarus. He added, "We do not touch Belarusian journalists." ORT management on 29 July had urged Yeltsin to "take a clear position on freedom of the press in Belarus." The same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Belarusian ambassador in Moscow, Viktor Danilenka, to request the release of the journalists, Russian media reported. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 84, Part II, 30 July 1997
Under construction (sorry).

August, 1997

A poll conducted by the Mensk-based Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Research indicates that more than 45 percent of Belarusian voters would vote for incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka if the presidential elections were held now, Interfax reported on 7 August. More than half of the respondents said they hoped Lukashenka would take the country out of the economic crisis. Some 3.5 percent of respondents said they wanted to see former Parliamentary Chairman Stanislau Shushkevich as president RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 91, Part II, 8 August 1997
The Mensk district court on 8 August ruled that Valentin Astashinsky, a member of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), was guilty of organizing an unsanctioned march on 27 July, the anniversary of Belarus's sovereignty. Astashinky was fined 150 minimum monthly wages (22.5 million Belarusian rubles or $833). Astashinsky says he will file an appeal with the Mensk City Court and the Prosecutor's Office. He told Belapan that on 8 August, police arrived at the BPF office to demand that deputy chairman Yury Belenky, who also signed the application for the 27 July demonstration, immediately report to the local police. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 92, Part II, 11 August 1997
The Belarusian Prosecutor-General's Office has requested that the Ministry of Justice revoke the license of lawyer Garry Pogonyailo, who is defending the Russian Public Television (ORT) journalist Pavel Sheremet, Belapan reported. Pogonyailo was summoned to the Ministry of Justice on 12 August, the day when a court in Hrodno was to consider his petition for releasing Sheremet. The court subsequently ruled against his release, Interfax reported. Belarusian deputies issued a statement saying they hope the detention of the Russian TV crew will not worsen relations with Moscow or become "the reef on which the wishes and hopes of millions of Belarusians and Russians for a common future are smashed." Sheremet is to start fasting on 13. August in protest at his continued detention, ITAR-TASS reported, quoting an ORT spokesman in Mensk. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 94, Part II, 13 August 1997
Belarusian KGB officials searched the Mensk apartments of the Russian Public Television (ORT) journalist Pavel Sheremet and his cameraman Dmitrii Zavadskii on 13 August, RFE/RL reported. They made a complete inventory of their property, Interfax reported, adding that an official statement issued after the inventory states no property was seized. The search took place on the same day as Sheremet, a Belarusian citizen who heads the ORT bureau in Mensk, began a protest fast in prison. Sheremet was arrested in July with his cameraman and driver and charged with trespassing on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border while working on a story about smuggling. Sheremet and his cameraman have since been in custody in Hrodno, while the driver has been released pending trial. No date for their trial has yet been set. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 95, Part II, 14 August 1997
Pavel Sheremet, one of the Russian Public Television (ORT) journalists under arrest in Hrodno, on 14 August ended the hunger strike he began the previous day, ITAR-TASS reported. His lawyer told the news agency that he had convinced Sheremet to stop for health reasons. Officials at the Hrodno detention center responded by putting a television in Sheremet's cell and promising to provide him with periodicals and medical attention. Meanwhile in Yerevan, journalists and human rights organizations have issued a statement condemning the harassment by the Belarusian authorities of Sheremet and his colleague Dmitry Zavadsky as a "violation of free speech and of democracy in general," Noyan Tapan reported on 14 August. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 1, No. 96, Part II, 15 August 1997
Under construction (sorry).

The Referendum of November, 1996 web page
Summary of Pre-Referendum Events web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, through December, 1996 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, January and February, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, March and April, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, May and June, 1997 web page
Summary of Post-Referendum Events, September, 1997, to present web page

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