It is still not over!!!Our guys are hanging there despite cold weather. You know, whenever I look at the photos from the October Square, I get a feeling of enourmous pride for these guys. How can you fight for so long? Where do they take stamina?

There is one word comes up in my mind: Respect. They deserve our deepest respect, period! I have heard critics who were saying that these guys won’t handle too long because it is freezing, there is not enough hot drinks and coffee…and so on and forth. So here is news for you: it has been 4 nights already and they are still there! God bless!

charter97.org

Update 11:18 PM EST( 6:18 am in Minsk)

There are still about 25 tents on the Kastrychnitskaya Square in the center of Minsk. Today several thousands of the meeting participants expressed their support towards the camp-dwellers. Alyaxandr Milinkevich is to visit the camp at night. People are cheerful despite the frost - they are waiting for the date, declared by the democratic leaders, - March 25, when a mass demonstration of opposition is to take place.

Update 12:05PM EST(7:05 AM in Minsk)

Night was cold and fulled of provocations. Thanks God, our brave folks were able to get through it. It is 34 tents on the square, and about 400 people. The was music there for the whole night, so youth were able to dance little bit
At the begining of the night, around midnight actually, man carrying few bottles of champain came proposing to drink with him. Guys turned him neck and crop with shouts “FIGHT DRUNKNESS”. Despite of the quick actions from the side of our heroes, provocator was able to drink few shots and that was captured by cameras of goverment owned television. So another bits of lie should appear there soon.
Youth over there are trying to entertain themselves. Recently one guy posted some ideas about that. He said that after all it spring(minus 7C, nice spring, folks there are unbreakable, I tell you), and girls are getting more beautiful day after day. So he proposet to organize beauty contest “Miss Liberty” or Miss Freedom or something like that! Nice idea! That would be HOT! Every girl over there is a gem, a peice of pure gold, and those girls are not only beautifull by appearance but also have such spirit of Freedom…well, anyway you should see it for yourself.

Another problem was discovered. Participants do not have information about whats going on in world at all! Thats why, it was decided to come up with self-issued newspaper with short articles about latest events. Looks like movement started to evovle!

Update
Yesterday(on 22nd) in the evening deputy minister of internal affairs said that “There will be no dispersal of the rally. Not today, not tomorrow, not a all”. From my own sources in Ministry of Internal Affairs itself, nobody really concerned about that situation. They just don’t noticing it and working in the same pace.

Update 9:30AM EST(4:30PM in Minsk)
Some photos of night provocators:

Belarussian internet community tracked those guys. Theirs information(name, home address and phone numbers) are posted here.

Meanwhile, Belarusian Central Election Committee, declined 2 appeals from both Kozylin and Milinkevich. Looks like political methods just doesn’t work there.

Still a lot of people get arrested, not only in Minsk, but in the other cities also. Recently at the Ukraine-Belarussian border, customs stoped a group of 37 students traveling by train to St. Petersburg(transit through Belarus). Frontier guards decided that students might get off in Minsk and join rally.

Beside arresting people, police started arresting things. Recently they’ve confiscated soccer ball, that guys brought with them to warm up from time to time, and entertain themselves. Looks like ball was considered to be extremly dangerous opposing element…

Update 11:50AM(6:50PM in Minsk)
Another day brough more arrests. More people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Despite of that, people are starting gathering on the square again.
Meanwhile, leaflets were printed and they started to spread them among civilians. Here is an example:

It says: “82,6%? You and your friends were tricked. Will you pity yourself one more time, or will you demand real elections on the Day of Will

Update 1:39 PM EST (20:39 pm in Minsk)

According to charter97.org people are gathering on the October Square. There are many people who came from different Belarusian towns to support our “camp town”.

Update 2:00 PM EST(9:00 PM in Minsk)
Kozylin brough lots of stuff such as portable gas-stove, inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags and warm clothes. He also gave an interview, where he said that misunderstandings between him and Milinkevich, no matter what kind they are, are surmountable.
Today Kozylin sent his complaint to attorney general about action of SWAT and police forces.
More people all around Belarus were arrested today. For these past few days few hunderds were arrested and jailed. Jails are overloaded, but police keep arresting more and more people. Trials on them taking no more then 5 minutes, without eyewitnesses and lawyers. Arrests themselves are usually brutual. A lot of people comparing actions of SWAT and police with actions of fascists while WWII.

Update 2:50 PM EST. (9:50 PM in Minsk>
Belarus` central election commission voted unanimously on Thursday to reject a demand by opposition candidates and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to invalidate the results of the March 14-19 presidential election.

Aleksandr Milinkevich and Aleksandr Kozulin, the Belarusian Club of Electors and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) alleged mass violations of electoral laws at all stages of the race.

They said that Aleksandr Lukashenko was not eligible to run for a third term because he rigged the 2004 referendum to remove a two-term limit for presidents from the Constitution.

The appellants also alleged that the election was been conducted three months before the law-stipulated period.

They also cited arrests and harassment of campaign activists, unequal access to the state media, and pressure on voters to cast ballots early.

Dr. Kozulin demanded that the commission set a new election for July 16.

Speaking at the commission`s meeting, he said that pressure on campaigners was so strong that he had an impression that the law enforcement and security agencies were in charge of the election, not election commissions. He accused the commission of turning a blind eye to electoral law violations. “All the officials sitting here think about is how to retain their fat jobs, and also about butter and black caviar on bread.”

BHC head Tatyana Protko said that the election fell short of both international and national standards.

Nadezhda Kiselyova, a member of the central election commission, dismissed the arguments as legally negligible. “The text of Kozulin`s appeal was more like a political statement,” she added.

Lidiya Yermoshina, chairwoman of the central election commission, described the appeals as “sheer fiction” and “legal nonsense.”

Update 8:20 pm
There are about 35 tents right now on the October square. The weather is chilly and windy. People try to dance to warm up a little bit, sing songs and chant slogans. Somebody noticed folks from Ukrainian party called “Pora”. Some Lithuanian rock musicians are expected on Saturday.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 at 10:00 am and is filed under Free Belarus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.