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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Belarus arrests metro bombing suspects

2011-04-13

[Al Jazeera] Belarus has nabbed several people in connection with the metro bombing in Minsk that killed 12 people, state media quoted the deputy prosecutor as saying. "Information is being worked on from several people," Andrei Shved, the deputy prosecutor general who is in charge of the investigation, was quoted as saying by the Belta news agency on Tuesday. "People have been jugged," Shved said; however, he did not give numbers or say if those jugged are formal suspects. Shved added that photo-fit images of those wanted individuals still on the lam had been prepared and would be released to the public in a short time. Earlier on Tuesday, Anatoly Kuleshov, the interior minister, said police had created composite pictures of two male suspects using testimony from witnesses. He said the explosive apparently was radio-controlled. The bomb was placed under a bench on the Oktyabrskaya station and went kaboom! as people were coming off the trains at an evening peak hour, killing 12 people and wounding more than 200. Viktor Sirenko, the chief doctor of the Minsk Emergency Hospital, said that many victims had lost arms or legs. People streamed to the site of kaboom to lay flowers as police tightened security at all subway stations. "I went through that hell, I saw that pile of disfigured bodies," Nina Rusetskaya, a 37-year old Minsk resident, said as she lit a candle at the kaboom site. "I rode a car in the back of the train and only survived by miracle." 'Foreign forces' Lukashenko said at a meeting with officials late Monday that foreign forces could be behind the kaboom, but he didn't elaborate. Lukashenko took his six-year-old son to visit the site of the kaboom about two hours after the blast. He later ordered the country's feared security agency, which still goes under its Soviet-era name KGB, to "turn everything inside-out" to find the culprits. Alexander Milinkevich, a prominent opposition leader, voiced fears that the kaboom could serve as a pretext for a further crackdown on dissent. "Forces both inside and outside the country, which are interested in the destabilisation of the situation in Belarus, could profit from that terror attack," Milinkevich said in a statement Tuesday. "These forces want to provoke even harsher political repressions." More than 700 people, including seven presidential candidates, were nabbed after massive protests against fraud in December's presidential vote. The European Union and the United States have responded to the flawed vote with sanctions, leaving Lukashenko to rely exclusively on it main sponsor and ally Russia. Lukashenko has often launched diatribes at the West, accusing it of trying to destabilise Belarus. But his relations with Russia also have often been strained in the past as he accused the Kremlin of trying to wrest control over Belarus' key economic assets. Belarus is facing a severe economic crisis with hard currency reserves running critically low and people waiting in day-long lines to exchange rubles as they prepare for devaluation of the national currency.

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Cheney Lectures Russia About Reform

2006-05-04

Vice President Dick Cheney, in remarks that caused a stir in neighboring Russia, accused President Vladimir Putin Thursday of restricting the rights of citizens and said that "no legitimate interest is served" by turning energy resources into implements of blackmail. "In Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade," Cheney told a conference of Eastern European leaders whose countries once lived under Soviet oppression, and now in Russia's shadow. Cheney's speech blended praise for the progress Eastern European countries have made toward democracy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with an exhortation to continue on the same path. "The democratic unity of Europe ensures the peace of Europe," he said. He said Russia has a choice to make when it comes to reform, and said that in many areas, "from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties, the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people." Other actions "have been counterproductive and could begin to affect relations with other countries," Cheney said, mentioning energy and border issues. "No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation," he said. "And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor, or interfere with democratic movements." It was among the strongest remarks that any U.S. official has made publicly about Putin's leadership style. The Bush administration for the most part has tried to play down, at least publicly, any strong differences with Putin. Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of a Russian State Duma committee, said he believes Cheney's remarks at the Vilnius forum are subjective and do not reflect the real situation in the former Soviet republics. Cheney's remarks "hardly corresponds to many realities of the political processes that we see on the post-Soviet territory today," he said. "The United States has to deal with an absolutely different Russia today - a Russia that has restored its real sovereignty in many areas and is pursuing a course on the world arena that meets mainly its own national interests," Kokoshin added. Russian Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky said he believes Cheney tried to discredit Russia in the run-up to a G8 summit scheduled for July in St. Petersburg. "I believe his criticism of Russia for trying to dismantle democracy in our country is absolutely baseless, but I am sure that Cheney expressed the opinion of only part of the U.S. political elite, but not that of the top leader of that country," Zhirinovsky said. Officials said the remark concerning territorial integrity was meant to apply to Georgia and Moldova, both former portions of the Soviet Union where the administration says Russia is playing an unhelpful role in solving separatist conflicts. Cheney spoke to the Vilnius Conference, a gathering of leaders from the Baltic and Black Sea regions. The vice president blended his criticism of Putin with a reaffirmation of President Bush's decision to attend this summer's Group of 8 summit meeting in Russia. Putin will serve as host of the meeting of leaders of the world's largest industrialized nations, and some American politicians have urged Bush not to attend. "We will make the case, clearly and confidently, that Russia has nothing to fear and everything to gain from having strong, stable democracies on its borders," the vice president said. Any criticism of Russia seemed restrained in contrast to the words Cheney used to describe the political situation in Belarus under President Alexander Lukashenko. He said Belarus suffers under "the last dictatorship in Europe" and that its people are denied basic freedoms. Cheney said he had hoped to meet in Lithuania with Belarus' opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich, but he was recently jailed by authorities in Minsk. "The regime should end this injustice and free Mr. Milinkevich, along with other democracy advocates held in captivity," he said. Much of Cheney's speech was an exhortation to the people and leaders of countries that long lived under the occupation of the Soviet Union, and a reassurance that the United States will stand with them. "In these 15 years, the Baltics have shown how far nations can progress when they embrace freedom, serve the interests of their people and hold steadily to the path of reform," he said. "Reform is an uneven path, but it is not chaos; indeed, the surest way to invite constant political social and economic upheaval is to reject the hard but necessary choices." Cheney began his day at breakfast with Yushchenko, and said the United States wanted "to do everything we can to be of assistance in the days ahead." Yushchenko responded by saying that recent "free and fair elections" for parliament and local offices marked significant progress in his country's path toward democracy. "Probably for the first time, Ukrainian authorities were highly assessed by ... the international community, including the Americans," said Yushchenko.

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Europe

U.S., NATO Condemn Detention of Belarus Opposition Leader

2006-04-30

The U.S. State Department has condemned the detention of Belarus main opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich. State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli called the detention of Milinkevich and other opposition leaders “outrageous and reprehensible.” He said “unfortunately, these are only the latest in an ongoing series of acts which —- against the citizens (of Belarus) who are only attempting to exercise their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.” “We condemn these actions and we call on the authorities to immediately release those detained and drop the charges against them,” Ereli said. Milinkevich, opposition candidate at the presidential election in Belarus, was sentenced to 15 days in jail a day after he led a protest rally in the capital of Minsk that attracted around 10,000 people, one of the largest turnouts in six weeks of demonstrations against the President Alexander Lukashenko. Other opposition leaders, Vintsuk Vyachorka, Alexander Bukhvostov, and Sergei Kalyakin, were also detained. “I would note that both we and the European Union have already announced measures to hold accountable officials responsible for these abuses. And we will continue working with our European partners to, I think, maintain a united front in the face of this gross assault on values that we all share,” Ereli said. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also condemned Milinkevich’s detention and called for his release. Speaking during a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Sofia, Scheffer quoted by Sofia News agency said “this is another demonstration of anti-democratic behavior on behalf of the regime of Minks. I call on the regime in Minsk to release Milinkevich immediately and to refrain from this kind of actions in the future.” “The Euro-Atlantic community cannot accept this to happen in the heart of Europe,” he said. Rice said that the United States “sincerely hopes that the Belarusian government will accept the will of the international community that it acts in accordance with accepted international principles when it comes to the treatment of opposition.”

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Europe

Protesters clash with police at Belarus rally

2006-03-26

MINSK: More than 1,000 protesters chanting "Shame!" and "Long live Belarus!" defied a ban and confronted police on Saturday as they tried to stage a rally in Minsk against President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election. Riot police, clad in black and equipped with batons, drafted in reinforcements to handle crowds who surged out of side streets towards Minsk's central October Square. Some scuffling ensued as some demonstrators pushed their way through a police cordon. But police generally prevented the protesters from getting onto the square, site of a tent camp cleared away by police on Friday. Defeated opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich told protesters to go to the nearby Yanka Kupala park to continue their rally. In line with the pattern earlier in the week, police showed tolerance unusual for the tightly-controlled ex-Soviet state and refrained from using force to break up the demonstration. Earlier Milinkevich, credited with only 6 percent of the vote to Lukashenko's 83 in the March 19 election, had urged supporters to mass "no matter what" in October Square.

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Europe

Belarus opposition defies ban, calls for rally

2006-03-25

Belarus's liberal opposition, its four-day protest snuffed out by police, defied a ban and called a new rally on Saturday to denounce what it calls the rigged re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko. Alexander Milinkevich, defeated opposition candidate in the March 19 poll, urged supporters to mass "no matter what" from 1000 GMT in October Square -- site of the tent camp cleared away by police in the early hours of Friday. If authorities sealed off the square, he said, protesters would move to a different location which he refused to disclose. Demonstrators are demanding a re-run of the poll which handed Lukashenko five more years in power in the ex-Soviet state that he rules with an iron grip. The official tally gave him 83 percent to just 6 for Milinkevich. It was not immediately clear what support Milinkevich could expect for Saturday's demonstration, which will also mark the independence day of a short-lived Belarussian republic in 1918. Stiff legislation against illegal assembly and unrelenting police action had kept opposition activity to a minimum in recent months. Most protests attract only dozens of activists. But authorities have handled this week's protests with comparative tolerance and police may simply divert protesters away from the city center and avoid confrontation. The United States and the European Union issued separate statements denouncing the police action and announcing plans to impose restrictions on Belarus, including a travel ban in the aftermath of the election. But Russia, Lukashenko's main backer, expressed sympathy.

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Europe

Lukashenko's re-election confirmed with 83 percent vote

2006-03-24

MINSK: Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won last Sunday's presidential election with 83 percent of the vote, the country's central elections commission said Thursday after all ballots were counted. The runners-up were Alexander Milinkevich with 6.1 percent, Sergei Gaidukevich with 3.5 percent and Alexander Kozulin with 2.2 percent, Nikolai Lozovik, the commission's secretary, told reporters.

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Europe

Belarusian election protests continue

2006-03-22

Hundreds of demonstrators in Belarus are holding a second night of protests against the election victory of President Alexander Lukashenko. Protesters in the centre of the capital Minsk have been joined by two of the candidates who lost out to Mr Lukashenko in the vote on Sunday - Alexander Milinkevich and Alexander Kozulin. Earlier, the United States backed the Opposition's call for new elections and the European Union said the poll had taken place in a climate of fear. But Sergei Kasyan, a Member of Belarusian Parliament, has dismissed the criticism. "Neither Mr Barroso of the European Commission, nor the European Parliament are in the position to make these kind of pronouncements, let alone the US State Department," he said. "They are baseless. Let them put their own house in order. They're trying to make everyone in the world live according to their norms and principles. Well their principles are not for us Slavs." "Us Slavs have no principles. We like being ruled with an iron fist."

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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Thousands of Belarussians denounce election

2006-03-20

Minsk - Thousands of protesters thronged the main square of the Belarusian capital on Sunday in defiance of a government ban, refusing to recognize a presidential vote that appeared all but certain to give the iron-fisted incumbent a third term. The protesters chanted "Long Live Belarus!" and the name of the main opposition candidate, Alexander Milinkevich. Some waved a national flag that Lukashenko banned in favor of a Soviet-style replacement, while others waved European Union flags. "We demand new, honest elections," Milinkevich told the crowd. "This was a complete farce." Lukashenko won 88.5 percent of the vote compared to 3.8 percent for Milenkevich, central election commission secretary Nikolai Lozovik said, with 22.3 percent of ballots counted. The results virtually guaranteed a third term for the authoritarian leader who has ruled the republic since 1994. Milinkevich and another opposition candidate, Alexander Kozulin, called on the crowd, which began thinning under a heavy snow, to return to the square Monday evening — signaling they would try to hold a sustained protest of the sort that brought down long-lived regimes in former Soviet republics including Ukraine and Georgia. Much more at the link. Good luck, Belarus.

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Europe

Exit Polls Give Belarus Imcumbent Lead

2006-03-19

Exit poll results gave hard-line incumbent Alexander Lukashenko an overwhelming lead in Sunday's presidential vote in the former Soviet republic of Belarus, and the opposition candidate said he would not recognize the results. The statement by opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich stoked concerns of a violent confrontation between police and opposition supporters. Milinkevich called on supporters to gather in protest despite a ban on election-day gatherings.

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Europe

Belarus sold weapons to Iran

2006-03-19

Belarus moved closer to international isolation yesterday after the White House submitted a largely classified report to Congress accusing the country's president of illegally selling weapons to Iran. The report, prepared on the eve of an election in Belarus widely denounced as a sham, comes amid condemnation of a brutal crackdown on his opponents by President Alexander Lukashenko, labelled Europe's last dictator by the Bush administration. According to United States officials, the report accuses the 51-year-old president of turning himself into "one of the richest men in the former Soviet Union", through arms sales to rogue regimes and African rebel outfits. "We spelt out some of the concerns when it comes to Belarus," said a White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, confirming the existence of the report. "This is one country in a Europe that is free and at peace that has moved in the opposite direction of freedom and peace." Western diplomats say that Belarus earns more than £1.14 billion annually in weapons sales, much of which goes into a secret fund controlled directly by the president. An official, who read the report, says it alleges that the Belarussian government sold arms, dual-use items, and even components that could be used in weapons of mass destruction, to Iran. The report asserts that military hardware was also sold to the Sudanese government, which has waged a brutal campaign against rebels in the Darfur region, that has forced more than a million people to flee their homes. The report appears to be the first step towards the imposition of targeted sanctions, likely to take the form of travel bans and an asset freeze, by the US on Mr Lukashenko and his cronies. Britain and the European Union have signalled their intention to impose penalties should today's poll prove to be rigged. Western diplomats say most of the cheating has already taken place, with students and other individuals known to harbour opposition sympathies being forced to vote earlier this week - a practice allowed under Belarussian law. "They were made to vote before European observers arrived to monitor the poll," said a senior Western diplomat. "After they voted, their ballots will be checked and replaced with votes for Lukashenko. What we're seeing now is a charade of a free and fair election." Mr Lukashenko, a former collective farm boss, seems unmoved by the condemnation. As the head of the only ex-Soviet state in Europe not to turn westwards, he is desperate to ensure there is no repeat of the revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine between 2003 and 2005, where street protests toppled similarly autocratic regimes. Last week his secret police, which has retained its Soviet-era KGB acronym, said that anyone participating in a planned opposition protest at a square in central Minsk this evening would be arrested as a terrorist, and could face the death penalty. The KGB also claims that the opposition is planning to detonate bombs among the crowd as a precursor to launching a coup. Yesterday, every Belarussian with a mobile telephone was sent a text message that said: "Provocateurs are planning bloodshed in the square. Watch out for your life and health." The warnings are in keeping with the twin pillars of Mr Lukashenko's style of government: fear and disinformation. He has brought the media under state control, save for a few newspapers, closed pressure groups, and arrested hundreds of opposition supporters over the course of the campaign. Posters for Mr Lukashenko's main challenger, Alexander Milinkevich, are ripped down as soon as they are put up, while the president, on television almost every hour of every day, is not officially bothering to campaign.

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Europe

Belarussians fill streets on eve of poll

2006-03-19

Thousands of Belarussians have staged the largest opposition rally in years on the eve of an election, with the president threatening protesters. Alexander Lukashenko, accused in the West of human rights violations in 12 years in power, is all but certain to easily defeat three challengers, two from the small liberal opposition. Alexander Milinkevich, the main opposition hopeful, accuses Lukashenko of preparing to rig the vote. The European Union, which has sanctions in place against Belarussian officials, expressed concern over a "lack of freedom". About 6000 people massed on the outskirts of the capital, Minsk, for a rock concert, waving the EU flag and the traditional red-and-white national colours banned by Lukashenko. Those in attendance chanted "Freedom!" and "Long Live Belarus!" Milinkevich told supporters to take to the streets after the polls closed, as Ukrainians did in the 2004 Orange Revolution, to keep the count honest despite official warnings that public order violations would be treated as terrorism.

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Europe

Lukashenko vows to 'wring necks' of election opponents

2006-03-18

Belarus's authoritarian president threatened to "wring the necks" of opponents preparing to take to the streets during tomorrow's elections, which he is widely expected to win with 70% of the vote. Alexander Lukashenko, who has been accused of heavy-handed tactics in attempting to prevent a repeat of the "revolutions" that took place in Georgia and neighbouring Ukraine, said yesterday that his liberal opposition had "neither the brains, the strength or the resources to take over anything". Talk about a sore winner. He added: "God forbid they should commit any sort of act in our country," he said. "We will wring their necks as one might a duck." Victory should come easily for Mr Lukashenko, who is expected to win a third term making him Europe's longest serving leader. State television shows him in a land of plenty, riding high on economic stability and "independence" from an expansionist Nato to his west. But amid the harmony lies great discord. "Lukashenko looks tired and worried despite him having the vote sewn up," said one senior western diplomat, who concedes he may enjoy between 25% and 50% of the electorate's support. The burly former collective farm boss is emboldening his enemies more than he is keeping his friends. In a week that saw dozens of opposition activists arrested and foreign election monitors turned away at the airport, the KGB - which retains its Soviet name - claimed that Georgian embassies in Lithuania and Ukraine were plotting to destabilise the vote. Yesterday the Bush administration turned the screw on this "outpost of tyranny" by releasing a dossier detailing Mr Lukashenko's personal finances and Belarus's arms deals. Heh, there's a neat trick. The EU and the US have accused Mr Lukashenko of denying free speech and controlling the media, warning that "targeted sanctions" may follow if, as expected, observers declare the election fraudulent. The EU is funding an "independent radio station" that on Thursday began broadcasting from Poland. Even Mr Lukashenko's ally, Moscow, has been muted in its support, although it is keen to prevent a repeat of the "revolutions" that turned Ukraine and Georgia towards the west. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, who feels little personal warmth for his Belarussian counterpart, has kept silent about an election that would draw both western condemnation and embarrassment for him during Russia's G8 presidency. Yesterday Russia's human rights ombudsman said any violence against opposition protests would harm relations. Protesters, due to hit the streets at 8pm tomorrow dressed for a "denim revolution", have been warned they could be charged with terrorism, and face the death penalty. "Without fear to hold it together this place would fall apart," joked one taxi driver. Alexander Milinkevich, the main opposition candidate, has been accused of trying to seize power through a foreign-funded coup. At least 50 of his activists were arrested last week. "People are still very afraid, but we have politicised the country," Mr Milinkevich told the Guardian. "They are reacting to us." The message from Minsk riot police to protesters yesterday was that they will be "forced to the ground". But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned of "strong international reaction" if violence were used on peaceful demonstrators. Alexander Kozulin, another opposition candidate, was beaten by special forces officers when he tried to enter a hall where Mr Lukashenko was speaking. One of the assailants shot out the tyres of his car. Mr Kozulin was taken to a police station where he damaged a portrait of the president, for which he is now facing charges. "Lukashenko is the destabilising factor. We have a fascist state here," Mr Kozulin said. "It is 'Lukashism'. His place in The Hague has been freed by Milosevic."

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