BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/02/2006

Belarus secret agents tried to stop the car of the Czech embassy in Minsk

A diplomatic war has erupted between the Czech Republic and Belarus as Belarus secret agents tried to stop the car of the Czech embassy in Minsk and threatened its Belarus driver with two years in prison for "subversion" two days ago, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) reported. The car was driving a brochure with a United Nations report on the abuses of human rights in Belarus to the German embassy, MfD writes. "Two men in black suits stopped the car and threatened to imprison the driver", head of the Czech mission in Minsk Vladimir Ruml told the paper. Ruml said that they were members of secret services or the units serving directly Belarus President Lukashenko. "The consul whom I sent to settle the incident on the spot eventually managed to use the moment when they did not pay attention and he drove away", Ruml said. "It is a scandalous and gross violation of international conventions", Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda told the paper. "We will sharply protest", he added. Svoboda said that the Czech diplomats' request that the two men show their identity cards, "was brusquely rejected". In keeping with security regulations, Ruml contacted the Security Service of Embassies and asked for "intervention against two terrorists" who prevented the embassy' work. A member of the office came to the scene, but only spoke with the two agents, Ruml added. Foreign Ministry considers the incident very serious, MfD says. Under international conventions, diplomats and their cars are protected by immunity and the incident certainly violated it, MfD writes. "We will certainly not be frightened and we will keep distributing the brochure, an official United Nations document, Svoboda said. "We hope that our colleagues from other EU countries will join us", he added. Representatives of EU countries have made it clear to the Czech Republic that they, too, will officially protest, MfD writes. At the weekend, Belarus authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko accused through state television the Czech embassy in Minsk of subversive activities. Belarus authorities said that Czech diplomats spread propaganda pamphlets before the forthcoming parliamentary elections in order to subvert the order in the country. "There is a vociferous campaign against the Czech Republic in Minsk", Svoboda said, adding that what was called subversive pamphlets was a report by the United Nations Human Rights Commission for Belarus. Due to the human rights abuses in Belarus, Czech-Belarus relations are chilly. The regime in Belarus has also been criticized by the EU, CTK reported.

Source:

http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=703