BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/08/2006

Belarus Boots Out Latvian "Porn Dealer"

By Charles Hawley

Belarusian state television on Sunday showed "a dirty homosexual orgy" during prime time. The country accuses a Latvian diplomat of starring in the video and distributing pornography. No way say the Latvians.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko runs his country with an iron fist -- and isn't worried about upsetting his neighbors.

Gay pornography is not what one expects to see on prime time television in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko, the Eastern European country's Stalinesque dictator, after all has made it clear that pornography is high up on his list of dislikes. Right up there with homosexuality.

But on Sunday evening, Belarusian state television showed what it described as "a dirty homosexual orgy." More than that, one of the men allegedly involved in the escapade was Reimo Smits, the second secretary of the Latvian Embassy -- and, according to the Belarusian news report, "pervert" and "porn dealer."

The result has been a diplomatic fracas that has seen Smits head back to Latvia and Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks refuse to receive the new Belarusian Ambassador to Latvia, scheduled to present his credentials on August 9. Pabriks on Tuesday officially informed the European Union presidency of the diplomatic "violations" committed by Belarus according to a ministry press release.

"We are very much hoping for an explanation by Belarus for this violation of diplomatic immunity and invasion of the private space of our diplomat," Foreign Minister Pabriks told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Up to today we haven't gotten anything whatsoever except for public accusations on the television."

The case began last Tuesday when the Belarusian secret service, which still goes by the Soviet name KGB, stormed Smits's apartment in Minsk saying they suspected the Latvian of distributing pornographic materials. Some DVDs were confiscated -- with the Belarusians claiming they are porn videos and the Latvians countering that they are merely old recordings of Belarusian news programs. The Belarusian authorities say the video of Smits came from a camera hidden in his apartment.

Belarusian Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov told journalists last week that a criminal case was being filed and insisted that pornographic material had been confiscated from the Latvian diplomat.

The Latvians, not surprisingly, have a different explanation. "The idea is to show viewers, look this is a diplomat from one of the countries promoting democracy in Belarus," Pabriks said. The television show which aired the video is often used to discredit the Western system Pabriks claims. "The person who has now been accused (Smits) was one of the contact persons for the Belarusian democratic opposition."

While homosexuality is not a criminal offense in Belarus, homophobia is widespread and the government has developed something of a tradition of smearing its opponents with charges of homosexuality. A similar case occurred in January of 2005 when a Czech diplomat was expelled from Belarus following accusations that he was courting a 16-year-old boy. A German diplomat and his Ukrainian partner were booted out of the country in 2004.

Belarusian leader Lukashenko has been heavily criticized by the West for maintaining an authoritarian grip on power. A number of Western nations have banned Lukashenko and senior Belarusian politicians from entering after alleged fraud in elections earlier this year. Lukashenko received over 82 percent of the vote in the March poll. Prior to the vote, Polish contact with the pro-democracy opposition in Belarus had resulted in an extended diplomatic tiff between the two countries.

Source:

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,429826,00.html

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