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On 28 September 2008 Belarusians elected members of the House of Representatives. These elections were internationally expected to bring further positive changes on the country´s political arena, but unfortunately the elections fell short of OSCE’s standards. National observers stated numerous violations of international standards. However EU still wants a dialogue with official Minsk (01-OCT-08).  
 

18 September, a preliminary meeting of the litigants on the case initiated by Hrodna Regional Department of KGB, asking the court to classify a newspaper, some books, human rights newsletters and music CDs as «extremist materials» took place at the District Court of Hrodna (Western Belarus). Human Rights activists are concerned about the troubling precedent such a clasification might have, if articles of the ´Law on Counteraction of Extremism´ could be used against dissidents. (20-SEP-08)
 

he last remaining political prisoners; Aleksandr Kazulin, former presidential candidate, Andrei Kim, young activist, and Sergei Parsjukevich, the entrepreneur, have been released by A. Lukashenka’s order. Most oppositional politicians and human rights activists considered it has been done due to the EU and USA pressure to the regime. Belarusian officials did not make any statements.  (21-AUG-08)
 

Aliaksandr Lukashenko has signed the new, highly restrictive media law. This was made public by the Presid­ential Press Service. The law will, among other things, lead to similar restrictions for websites as for regular media.  Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) has applied several times to MPs with requests to send the document for international legal expertise. (05-AUG-08)
 

Relatives and friends of Dzmitry Zavadski, a Belarusian TV journalists and a member of BAJ, who disappeared 8 years, are still in the dark about his fate. The criminal case has been closed and restarted many times but no information is available. The actions his family members or civil activists try to organize in memory of Zavadski have been banned by the authorities. (07-JUL-08)
  

On 28 June, the Belarusian Parliament passed a new law that, according to OSCE´s Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Belarusian Association of Journalists and Reporters without Borders, puts further restrictions on Belarusian media, including Internet based media. Representatives of the European Democratic institutions and International Organizations condemn the Belarusian media law and call on the authorities to change it in accordance to the European standards. (03-JUL-08)

After human rights activists told about their intention to monitor the upcoming Parliamentary elections, state-controlled media try to discredit their human rights activities and the authorities have started detailed examinations of the tax history of human rights activists. (30-JUN-08)
 

The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) expresses its protest in relation to the adoption of a new Law «On Mass Media» after the 2nd reading by the Chamber of Representatives at the National Assembly of Republic of Belarus on 25 June. The Bill will considerably limit the rights of independent mass media and for the websites, which for the first time will be covered by a media law in the Republic of Belarus (25-JUN-08).
 

Wednesday 11 June the Belarusian Association of Journalists finally received the draft bill on mass media. BAJ is dissatisfied with numerous elements including re-registration of journalists and the regulation of publications of the Internet. The authorities want to get the bill passed by Parliament as soon as possible, but BAJ reminds them to their promise to discuss it with civil society and European experts. (15-JUNE-08)