CEE News Archive

Belarus puts opposition leader in jail
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
04/28/2006

MINSK, BELARUS

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.

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 without being power-hungry.

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 said in an interview outside the courthouse where Milinkevich was sentenced.

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

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.