Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova Report 2/15/2011 6:42:39 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova. For more stories on Eastern Europe, please visit and bookmark our Eastern Europe page .

 

Belarus Germany, Central Europe Slam Belarus German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined Austria and the four members of the Visegrad Group of countries -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- in denouncing the government of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka for rights abuses More   Belarus Activist Gets 10 Days In Jail Belarusian opposition activist Vadzim Kabanchuk has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for taking part in an unsanctioned protest in Minsk on December 19. More   Belarus Campaign Manager Arrested The campaign manager of former Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski has been arrested. The opposition Christian Democratic Party (BKhD) said today Vadzim Kabanchuk was arrested at the Kamenny Loh border checkpoint while returning by bus to Belarus from Lithuania on February 13. More   Two Belarus Activists Held In Hrodna Police in the western Belarusian city of Hrodna have detained two young activists after they distributed leaflets calling for the immediate release of other activists from jail, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. Nadzeya Krapivina and Veranika Lemyanouskaya are in police custody following their detention late on February 13. More   Dictators, They Aren’t Kissing Your Hand Because They Love You The Egypt scenario that has shaken the world could spread to many post-Soviet countries where some aging presidents have been ruling for more than two decades. Seemingly tranquil now, Egypt-style civil disobedience cannot be ruled out in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, or Belarus – all countries where dictatorship, nepotism, and corruption are flourishing. More   ‘Frightened, Demoralized, And Alone’ With Belarus’s KGB I don’t know how the KGB picked me out of the crowd. Our first conversation took place after lunch on a Wednesday in my office. That talk was civil enough. I didn’t hide the fact that I’d been on Independence Square during the postelection protests. Eventually, the agent promised that if I'd admit everything honestly, they’d look on my case favorably. After all, he said, it would be a shame to destroy the career of such a young and promising specialist. More   Belarus KGB Searches Opposition Office The lawyer representing jailed Belarusian opposition presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich says officers from the Committee for State Security (KGB) searched his office today. More   Belarusian President Thanks Police Chiefs For 'Preserving Order' Minsk's top five police officials have received presidential awards for maintaining order in the Belarusian capital during mass protests in December. More   Moldova Transdniester Jails Moldovan 'Spy' In the second such case in recent months, a man has been sentenced to a heavy prison term in Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester after being found guilty of spying for Moldova. Ilie Cazac's supporters have denounced the trial as a sham. More   Moldova Hails U.S. Initiative To Lift Trade Restrictions Moldova's foreign minister has welcomed the introduction of legislation to the U.S. Congress that would lift Soviet-era barriers on trade with Chisinau. More   Senator Wants Moldova Sanctions Lifted A senior U.S. senator has introduced legislation in Congress that would lift a set of U.S. trade restrictions on Moldova that were imposed in 1975. More   Ukraine U.S. Reminds Ukraine On Rule Of Law U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on Ukraine to step up efforts to improve the rule of law and protect the freedom of speech. More   How To Turn A 'Partly Free' Ukraine Into A 'Not Free' Ukraine Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refuses to acknowledge that democratic regression is taking place on his watch and, in this, he is similar to former President Leonid Kuchma. But in certain areas it's worse under Yanukovych than it was under Kuchma. More   Ukraine Journalist Missing Six Months Ukrainian journalists are appealing to the president to help solve the disappearance of a colleague six months ago. More   In New Book, Whistle-Blower Alleges U.S., UN Involvement In Bosnian Sex Trafficking Kathryn Bolkovac was a policewoman in Nebraska who decided to travel to postwar Bosnia-Herzegovina to serve with the UN police forces there. Less than two years later, she was fired after repeatedly presenting evidence that American and UN workers in Bosnia were involved in sex crimes involving underage girls trafficked illegally. More   Missing Kyiv Mayor 'Back' Kyiv City Council says Mayor Leonid Chernovetskyy is back on the job after an absence of several weeks. Council spokeswoman Olha Tuniy told journalists Chernovetskyy had been back in the office since February 7. She did not say where Chernovetskyy was during his absence. More