Belarus Follow-Up: Regime to Ban People from Standing and Doing Nothing

Soon-to-be-Illegal Activity in BelarusIron-fisted authorities in Belarus have responded to a burst of creative modes of protest by young protesters with a rather surreal innovation of their own: a law that prohibits people from standing together and doing nothing.

A draft law published Friday prohibits the “joint mass presence of citizens in a public place that has been chosen beforehand, including an outdoor space, and at a scheduled time for the purpose of a form of action or inaction that has been planned beforehand and is a form of public expression of the public or political sentiments or protest".

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Belarus Update: Getting to the Truth on Repression and Social Media (Belarus Digest)

Western media often spread myths about the extent of Internet censorship in Belarus.  Many have the impression that all or many social media sites have been shut down or blocked by Belarusian KGB. The truth is that unlike television or FM radio, Internet access remains largely unrestricted in Belarus. 

Because only a small fraction of Belarusians use Internet to get political information, authorities are rather relaxed about Internet censorship. They usually intervene to temporarily block certain Internet web sites around the dates of scheduled protests. In addition, they effectively use traditional methods against pro-democracy activists such as arrests and pressure on protestors' universities and employers.

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Belarus Updates: When a One-Armed Man is Arrested for Clapping....

Protesters Detained in MinskKonstantin Kaplin, an unemployed man from the western town of Grodno, says he was convicted this week of applauding in public and fined the equivalent of $200, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence: He is officially registered as a disabled person and has only one arm.

Mr. Kaplin insists that he was only standing nearby and attempting to photograph demonstrators with his cell phone when plainclothes police grabbed him.

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Belarus Feature: Suppressing Protest...Again

Last winter we covered the Belarussian regime's repression of protest after President Aleksandr Lukashenko was officially re-elected with 80% of the vote. 

We return to the story as the regime moved to prevent demonstrations on Sunday, which officially is remembered for the liberation from Germany in World War II. Thousands of police and special forces were deployed in the center of the capital Minsk, and access to social media and websites was blocked. Dozens of activists, including Stanislav Shushkevich, Belarus' first post-Soviet leader, were reportedly detained, and others were called in by the intelligence services and warned not to protest.

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Belarus Updates: Opposition Candidates Face 15 Years in Prison

2140 GMT: Writing in The New York Times, four Foreign Ministers --- Carl Bildt of Sweden, Guido Westerwelle of Germany, Karel Schwarzenberg of the Czech Republic, and Radek Sikorski of Poland --- have denounced the conduct of the Presidential election and suppression of protests. They continue with a call to suspend ties with President Lukashenko and to engage with the democratic opposition:

Continued positive engagement with Mr. Lukashenko at the moment seems to be a waste of time and money. He has made his choice — and it is a choice against everything the European Union stands for.

But there are many in Belarus who know that his clock is ticking — and are discreetly preparing for a better future.

Our many conversations with representatives of different parts of Belarus society have convinced us that the country wants to be part of a free and prosperous Europe. We must now deepen our engagement with the democrats of Belarus and those inside the government who disapprove of the fateful turn their country has taken. They must not be abandoned or betrayed as their country enters what might be a new dark era.

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Belarus Updates: 5 Presidential Candidates, 12 Others Accused of "Organising Riots"

UPDATE 1155 GMT: Aleksandr Klaskovsky, the "hero policeman" who urged fellow police not to beat demonstrators on Sunday, has now repented for his "idiotic" actions.

Klaskovsky is the son of the prominent journalist and political analyst by the same name.

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Belarus Video: Thousands of Anti-Government Protestors Storm Government Building

Footage of protests in Minsk and a report on the demonstrations from Russia Today. The crowd assembled outside a Government building after Belarus elections gave President Aleksandr Lukashenko 79% of the vote on Sunday. See also the story, "Police Beat Back Anti-Government Protest over Elections".

Russia Today's Raw Footage for Its Report (see below)

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Belarus: Police Beat Back Anti-Government Protest over Elections (Schwirtz)

UPDATE 1350 GMT: Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have declared that, although some specific improvements were made, the election showed that Belarus still has a considerable way to go in meeting its commitments.

Tony Lloyd, the head of the short-term observer missio, said, "This election failed to give Belarus the new start it needed. The counting process lacked transparency. The people of Belarus deserved better. And, in particular, I now expect the Government to account for the arrests of presidential candidates, journalists and human rights activists."

Yeah, yeah, but will Belarus get the $4 billion in aid promised by the European Union if the elections were "free and fair"?

UPDATE 1000 GMT: The Belarus Central Election Commission HAS said preliminary results show President Aleksandr Lukashenko with 79.67% of the vote. The next-highest total for any of the nine challengers is 2.56%.

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