BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/11/2006

Polish community leader in Belarus 'set up' by Lukashenko regime?

Belarusian customs officials claim they have found drugs in a car carrying Angelica Borys, the ousted leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus and two other members of the Union.

Krysia Kolosowska reports

But Borys, who was questioned for two hours at the Grodno customs office, believes the package containing 1.5 grams of amphetamine, was planted in the car in yet another action against broadly conceived opposition.

Angelica Borys has been victim of police repressions and intimidation since she was elected president of the Union of Poles in Belarus. The authorities did not accept her candidature and orchestrated her removal forcing the Union to elect new leaders loyal to the government.

The Polish government regards her as a legitimate leader of the Union. Borys has been questioned by the police 80 times since she defied the Lukashenko regime. She and her supporters say the drug discovery affair is a political act against her. Andrzej Poczobut, a leading activist of the Union of Poles in Belarus, describes the incident as an obvious provocation.

"The car in which the President of the Union of Poles travels has always been very thoroughly checked by the border officials and no one in his right mind would try to carry anything illegal in it. And actually, the Belarus authorities are not even trying to make the whole incident seem credible."

Jakub Boratynski, an expert in eastern studies at the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw, says the latest events are yet another example of the campaign of harassment and intimidation against the Belarusian opposition - that includes also independent activists from the Union of Poles in Belarus.

"Repressions are getting harsher and harsher. A watershed was a very severe sentence passed on Alexander Kazulin. The recent conviction of a political activist to 18 months is a reflection of a trend to step up repressions. I am afraid this is not going to change soon."

This week a Belarusian opposition activist was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Dmitryi Dashkevich, a member of the banned Youth Front political group, was charged with activities in a non-registered organization.

According to Andrzej Poczobut this and the action against Angelica Borys shows that the government of Alexander Lukashenko feels its position is being threatened.

"A crisis is looming in relations between Belarus and Russia and the authorities, Alexander Lukashenko feel uncertain."

Jakub Boratynski agrees with this diagnosis of the situation in Belarus, though he is not sure whether this really uncovers the weakness of the Minsk regime.

"The way the regime has reacted is an expression of an over-exaggerated fear of a repeat of the Ukrainian Orange revolution. Even though there is no evidence that would prove that the opposition is definitely getting stronger. I am not sure to what extent this is an expression of real weakness. Despite squabbles with Russia, we cannot say that Lukashenko has a very strong challenge at home."

Today some 10 opposition politicians and activists are serving prison terms in Belarus. Among them is former candidate for president Alexander Kazulin sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for staging what the authorities called an illegal demonstration and hooliganism.

Source:

http://www.polskieradio.pl/polonia/article.asp?tId=44082&j=2

Google