BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/12/2005

Belarusian Parliament Members Calls for Ethnic Cleansing

(December 23, 2005)

A member of the Belarusian parliament who once vowed that he is "ready to defend the president [Aleksandr Lukashenko] with a grenade launcher in my hands" has called for former military officers to unite and go to war against people from the Caucasus who have settled in Belarus, according to a December 14, 2005 report by the Prima News Agency. Viktor Kuchinsky reportedly said that in the Brest region there are now "too many Chechens, Azerbaijanis and other people of Caucasian nationality" and that they need to be expelled by force. Since 1994, Mr. Kuchinsky has served as an aide to President Lukashenko. His latest statement was condemned by another member of parliament, Olga Abramova, who pointed out that it probably violates laws against inciting ethnic hatred.

Source:

http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/122305Belarus.shtml