BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/04/2006

Belarus jails opposition leader, draws international outcry

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - Belarus' authoritarian government jailed the country's most prominent opposition leader Thursday after a protest rally that attracted thousands, a move that drew swift international condemnation.

The sentences imposed on Alexander Milinkevich and three of his deputies threw into question the ability of activists to gather a substantial crowd at a demonstration planned for Monday in their campaign to drive President Alexander Lukashenko from power.

Milinkevich, who has spearheaded the wave of unprecedented protests since Lukashenko's re-election last month, was sentenced to 15 days in jail. Other opposition leaders received similar sentences in connection with Wednesday evening's rally, which drew about 10,000 people.

The United States, the European Union, NATO and the 55-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe condemned Milinkevich's jailing as a violation of democratic values and free speech. They demanded his release.

Lukashenko - often described by Western countries as "Europe's last dictator" - won a third term in March 19 elections deemed fraudulent by the European Union and the United States.

The 58-year-old Milinkevich, who ran against Lukashenko, has been a compelling and unifying figure for an opposition that incorporates widely diverse forces ranging from pro-Westerners to Communists. He is widely regarded as principled and determined without being power-hungry.

His jailing could deprive the next protest of its emotional center and increase demonstrators' fear of gathering in defiance of the authorities. At the same time it also could boost supporters' willingness to gather in the face of official repression.

The authorities "think that if they put people in jail ... that new people won't come (to the rally) on May 1," prominent opposition member Anatoly Lebedko told The Associated Press outside the courthouse where Milinkevich was sentenced. "It's a kind of show-trial process."

Milinkevich was jailed for taking part in an unsanctioned rally - a rally that initially had official approval but police later declared illegal.

"This is a political sentence. The leaders of political parties are being put behind bars," Milinkevich said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the action as "reprehensible," and said she hoped the government in Minsk would "accept the will of the international community that it act in accordance with accepted international principles."

The jailing appeared to sharply escalate authorities' attempts to repress the opposition. Although an array of opposition figures have been arrested in recent weeks, most of them do not have the wide visibility of Milinkevich at home or abroad. Milinkevich in recent weeks has made several trips to Western countries to seek support for the opposition.

The European Union this month imposed visa bans on about 30 senior Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko, in response to the election and a violent crackdown by riot police on a protest march.

Yet international pressure is unlikely to have a significant effect on Lukashenko, who openly despises the West and alleges that Western countries are funding the opposition with the aim of overthrowing him.

Wednesday's demonstration, on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, centered on criticism of the Lukashenko government's response to the consequences of the explosion, which covered about a quarter of Belarus' territory with radioactive fallout.

The other three people sentenced after the rally were Vintsuk Vyachorka, leader of the Belarusian People's Front organization and a former official in Milinkevich's unsuccessful presidential campaign; Alexander Bukhvostov, leader of the opposition Trud Party; and Sergei Kalyakin, Milinkevich's campaign manager.

Source:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-04-27-belarus_x.htm