Representatives of the Human Rights House Network condemn the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, journalists and representatives of the political opposition by Belarusian authorities.  (22-OCT-04)

On the 19th of October, hundreds of people protested in the centre of Minsk against the result of the parliamentary election and the controversial referendum. The demonstrators displayed banners reading ´No to tyranny´ and kept shouting ´No to dictatorship, yes to Belarus´. However, in Belarus, there is an absolute ban on all demonstrations, and the police were soon sent in to stop the protests

Journalist killed
Belarusian human rights defenders have confirmed to the Human Rights House Foundation and this website that the leader of the United Civic party received serious injuries and was sent to hospital after the demonstrations. The prominent Belarusian journalist, Veronika Charkasava, was killed on the 20th of October. In a separate incident, the well-known Russian journalist Pavel Sheremet was beaten, detained and later hospitalized. Even so, Moscow relates to the rigged Belarusian elections and their violent aftermath with relative ease. With unintended irony, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared that the Belarusian referendum reflects ´the people´s will´ and that it shows how well ´the democratic institutions have been developed and how civil society has been stregthened´.

Criticism
Independent political commentators were less impressed. -Despite his scandalous reputation, the Russian leadership is satisfied with Lukashenko, writes the Russian newspaper Gazeta. Other commentators are of the opinion that Kreml´s main concern is to keep the Belarusian president loyal and obedient. -Lukashenko has enforced his status as a dictator. Making these elections a farce has once again demonstrated for the whole world that he is a worthy student of Stalin, writes the newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets.  

Fifty demonstrators detained
According to reports from Amnesty International and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, 50 demonstrators were detained. -The police went ahead in a very systematic manner, said Berit Lindeman of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee to the Norwegian broadsheet Aftenposten. Lindeman, who has been in Belarus throughout the elections to observe whatever irregularities there might be, elaborated that the police went into the crowd of demonstrators, clearly knowing who they were after. Among the leading oppositionals arrested were Nikolaj Statkevitsj, Pavel Severinets and Pavel Jukhevitsj, the latter leading a youth organisation. All three have received prison sentences of 10 to 15 days. Anatolij Lebedko, among the most central oppositional voices in the country, tried to escape and hide in a pizza restaurant. The police came after him, shut the doors and gave him a severe beating, said Lindeman.    (Read the press statement from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee here. )