BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/12/2006

Who Wants To Discredit Education Of Belarusian Students In Poland?

Jan Malicki from Warsaw University, who supervises Poland's educational program for Belarusian students expelled from Belarusian universities after the March presidential election, told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on December 28 that there have been attempts to discredit this program and him personally. Malicki claimed to have received accidentally an e-mail describing such a discrediting plan. "[The plan consists of] seven points. The first one refers to the manager of this program, that is, to me, and speaks straightforwardly -- excuse the quote -- about 'hiring a prostitute for a sexual encounter with Malicki and gathering compromising material about him in this way,'" Malicki said. Malicki also said unidentified people tried to incite Belarusian students in hostels in Poland to protests against the management of their education program and their living conditions. Malicki stressed that informing the media about such discrediting attempts is part of his strategy to counteract them. "From the very beginning, all of us were aware that, given such an amount of students, there may be people among them whose aim is not to be educated and serve democracy but to serve Belarusian special services," Malicki added. Earlier this year, Poland offered 300 scholarships to Belarusian students who had been subject to political repressions in Belarus. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/12/3-cee/cee-291206.asp