BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Monday, June 6, 2005. Issue 3181. Page 4.

U.S. Might Revoke the Visas of More Belarussian Officials

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The United States may revoke the visas of additional Belarussian officials to demonstrate its disapproval of the country's undemocratic government, a senior official said Friday.

Some visas belonging to top officials have already been revoked, and similar action might be taken against other ranking Belarussians, said the official, who briefed reporters but could not be identified by name because of State Department rules.

The official also said the United States may oppose participation by Belarussians at international events.

He spoke a day after the State Department said the convictions of two dissident leaders in Belarus were an outrageous example of a "persistent abuse of the legal system to suppress peaceful dissent."

With relations already at a low level, the United States appears to have few options in further distancing itself from President Alexander Lukashenko's government.

Meanwhile, an aide to former Czech President Vaclav Havel said Friday that Havel and other human rights advocates in the Czech Republic had established a group -- the International Association Civic Belarus -- to support pro-democracy initiatives and organizations in Belarus.

Also Friday, Miklos Haraszti, media freedom representative for the 55-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, expressed concern over a new Lukashenko decree that bans the use of the words "national" and "Belarussian" by media in their names and mastheads.

Haraszti said many newspapers would be forced to urgently re-register under different names, including independent newspapers Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, Belorussky Rynok, Belorusskaya Gazeta and Natsionalnaya Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta.

The new rules do not apply to state media, Haraszti said.

Source:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/06/06/018.html


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