BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

24/02/2006

Belarus KGB arrests NGO leaders

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Friday, 24 February: 14.05 CET) - The Belarusian secret service has arrested four leaders of the nongovernmental Initiative Partnership (CIP), news agencies reported.

Mikalay Astreyka, Alyaksandr Shalayka, Tsimafey Dranchuk, and Enira Branitskaya were arrested in their apartments by Belarus KGB agents.

The secret service says the group was being financed by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute and that the group's leaders had violated a law on political gatherings.

If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

According to the Belarus KGB, the government outlawed the group two years ago, but its leaders defied the ban and were planning protests to coincide with the 19 March presidential election.

Astreyka was also a coordinator for a group of independent election monitors observing next month's poll.

The KGB recently has staged a series of raids targeting members of the political opposition. There have been numerous reports of the political activists' homes being raided.

Ahead of the elections, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka has ordered agencies to step up security measures to avoid a "color revolution", such as that in recent years that succeeded in ousting long-time leaders in Ukraine and Georgia.

Lukashenka told a national security conference this week that opposition forces inside and outside the country would stop at nothing to disrupt the elections and bring "lies and violence" to the Belarus people.

"You know what pressure has been exerted on Belarus, from open blackmail to attempts by the West to interfere in internal affairs, and from small provocations to threats of extremism on the part of the opposition," Lukashenka was quoted as saying.

Western countries and human rights groups have expressed concern that the March elections will not be free and fair. Lukashenka, who is seeking a third term, is expected to win in a landslide and has made it clear he will not tolerate any political dissent.

(By ISN Security Watch staff, RFE/RL, news agencies)

Source:

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=14890