BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/08/2006

Top Belarus court bans group of analysts

MINSK The top court in Belarus, an ex-Soviet state accused of crushing fundamental rights, yesterday withdrew the authorisation for a group of top political analysts, one of its main proponents said. Oleg Manayev, one of Belarus?s most respected political analysts and public opinion experts, said he had learned by post of the Supreme Court ruling against the group known as Belarussian Opinion Makers. ?The court acted in our absence,? Manayev said. ?A move like this is a new development, with state bodies taking action against a civil body without listening to its representatives.? President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is accused by Western countries of harassing opponents, clamping down on the media and hounding independent cultural and economic groups. Allegations that he rigged his landslide re-election victory to a third term earlier this year sparked unprecedented street protests for four days before they were halted by police.

Source:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=August2006&file=World_News200608222288.xml

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