Office for a Democratic Belarus

Belarus Headlines

Issue XI June 15 – 28, 2007

HEAD OF THE EU PARLIAMENT DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH BELARUS BOGDAN KLICH: AMNESTY IN JULY IS A TEST FOR POLITICAL GOOD WILL OF MINSK

Interview with the EU Parlia- ment delegation for relations with Belarus head (series: Face to face with Europe) Office for a Democratic Bogdan Klich does not mind Belarus to start his day talking about Belarus even if he is on vaca- tion with his family. He is Inside this one of those who consider the issue phrase Belarusian Parliament to be a euphemism and insists that the nature of the Belaru- Interview with Bog- 1-2 sian regime is dictatoral. Pol- dan Klich ish MEP takes his responsi- bilities seriously and is con- Belarusian movie 2 sistent in his statements and evening in Brussels decisions. spectives for Belarus. That Belarus were in 2003 when - Mr.Klich, do you like Bela- was actually my first meet- with a group of Polish par- rusians? ing with the opposition liamentarians we observed Bush extends sanc- 3 when what I learnt about local elections and trav- tions against Luka- shenko - Of course. Poles and Bela- the situation in Belarus as a elled a lot through the rusians have strong ties and student. This meeting con- country. very much in common both fronted the reality and UN Rights Council 3 Last time I was allowed to drops Belarus monitor culturally and historically. awoke my interest in the We have similar fates as na- country. come to Belarus was 2004 Prosecutor demands 3 tions: in 19th and 20th centu- before my election to the tougher sentence for ries we were oppressed. Both Later on I promoted the European Parliament. Shchukin Poles and Belarusians are dialogue with Belarus in Zagranica Group, an asso- - Would you describe the proud of their heritage and work of the European Par- Global watchdog ac- ciation of Polish non- 4 achievements; neither of us is liament Delegation for cuses Belarus of press too pragmatic. Sure, I like the governmental organizations freedom abuses that through various pro- relations with Belarus that people of Belarus and feel you head as effective? close to them, which has al- jects transferred the democ- Belarus opposition 4 ways been the reason for me ratic know-how. This pe- - Well, paradoxically condemns report of to engage in the dialogue riod added up to myknowl- state TV enough, the biggest success with them. edge about Belarus, its peo- of the Delegation is a non- ple, opposition in the coun- paper that was presented Amnesty post- 4 - Have you been often in try. In 2002-2003 as the bythe Commission in No- poned... Belarus? deputy head of the Foreign vember 2006. Our strategic Affairs Committee in the goal was to persuade the Economic News 6 - Oh yes, but some time ago. Polish Parliament I helped My political contacts with EU Council and the Com- EU and Belarus 7 to organise the visits of mission to take a more this countrystarted in the mid Belarusian democratic op- 90s, when, together with assertive approach to Bela- Culture News 8-9 position and the widows of rus. Frankly speaking, the Stanislav Shushkevich and a the disappeared to Poland. Belarus as best- Russian politician Galina means of the Parliament to The most fruitful and inter- interfere in domestic af- seller Starovoytova, I co-organised esting meetings we had in a seminar on democratic per- fairs are limited, the Coun- ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 2

Interview with Bogdan Klich

cil and the Commission to take a more situation in Belarus, meet people that Belarus on vacation? assertive approach to Belarus. Frankly we have never had a chance to meet. speaking, the means of the Parliament It depends on Belarus though. In the - I wouldreallylove to. It would be a to interfere in domestic affairs are last years we were either refused visas pleasure to spend a week in the Bela- limited, the Council and the Commis- or not allowed to visit. Moreover, rusian part of Belovezhskaya Push- sion have more instruments. Their Minsk should make cha. I also heard a lot of the Lake Dis- non-paper clearly illustrates the spec- another significant trict in Belarus. You tacular prospects of co-operation, step towards the I like the people of have a very beautiful country! draws a tempting road map of the West. We could test Belarus and feel close to future relations. And condition for its good political them, which has always them. will alreadyin July been the reason for me to – whether Belaru- engage in the dialogue Bogdan Klich is a - Recently UN Human Rights Council sian authorities will Polish Member of abolished the mandate of the Special use the next am- with them the European Parlia- Rapporteur on Belarus. Could some- nesty to release po- ment and the chair- thing similar happen with the Delega- litical prisoners. man of Delegation for relations with tion? Belarus since 2004. - Don’t you think Minsk has already - Actually, the case with the Delega- started this dialogue? Born in 1960, Krakow. Krakow tion might be that its policywould Medical University, Masters in the change. After the proposal of the - There have been several declara- History of Art, Jagiellonian Univer- Council and Commission, meetings tions made, for instance concerning sity (1987). Was Advisor to the Chief with the Belarusian ambassador to the new policy and openness towards Negotiator of the Republic of Poland Brussels Vladimir Senko, split in the the West. But these are declarations. with the European Union (1989- democratic camp in Belarus, decision There were first small political steps 1999), was Deputy Minister for Na- of the Administration to establish a taken that seem to confirm the state- tional Defence (1999-2000), Member representation office of the EU Com- ments, and the most important was the of Parliament of the Republic of Po- mission in Minsk, we began to think positive reply to the opening of the land, Polish representative and mem- about sending a fact-finding mission EU Commission representation. But ber of the Policy Committee of the to the country and wouldn’t exclude a these steps are still below the level of Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun- dialogue with authorities. If the dele- our expectations. The non-paper cil of Europe (2001-2004). Member gation is to go to Minsk, we would clearly shows that we need improve- of the International Institute of Strate- have a broad agenda, meetings with ment in at least 4 areas: release of gic Studies, London. both wings of the democratic camp, political prisoners and creating oppor- representatives of NGOs, newly cre- tunities for a public dialogue – which ated parties like the Green party, as is freedom of speech, assembly and well as representatives of the Admini- association. Without these improve- Prepared by Maryna Rakhlei for stration of President and, so to say, ments we can’t talk about coopera- the Office for a Democratic Belarus Belarusian parliamentarians. tion. 21/06/2007 We would like to learn more about the - Would you bring your family to

Belarusian Movie Evening in Brussels

On July 12, 19.00 the language: Belarusian, sub- many obstacles on the way to Leonard’s happi- Hanse-Office and the Office titles: English). The second ness: a flying cow, an amorous lady, and the for a Democratic Belarus movie will be “Colour of intolerant father-in-law. would like to invite you to a Love” a comedy by Ali- Belarusian movie evening Free entrance and snacks Directions: aksandr Kananovich (year: You will see: 2005, length: 20 min, lan- Avenue Palmerston 20 guages: Belarusian, Rus- “Monologues” a docu- B-1000 Brussels sian subtitles: English). mentary by Aleh Dashke- The film is set in Bela- Please, confirm your participation a vich , which describes rus at the end of the 19th by email: [email protected] day of life of a boxer and a century. Leonard, the young journalist. Two inner monologues of and poor Russian-speaking aristocrat, or by telephone: + 32 2 401 61 41 (42) people who try to find their own way in wants to marry the daughter of a Belaru- authoritarian Belarus (length: 30 min, sian “leech tycoon”. However, there are PAGE 3 BELARUS HEADLINES ISSUEXI

Politics and Society

Bush Extends U.S. Property Blocking Order against Belarus' President & Other Officials

President George W. Bush extended a "human rights abuses related to politi- Lukashenko and his chief deputy, his national emergency declaration Thurs- cal repression, including detentions justice and internal affairs ministers day involving Belarus that enables the and disappearances. and other senior officials are named in U.S. government to freeze any prop- the blocking order. It means they lose erty in the United States owned by Specifically, the declaration criticized access to any property they own Belarus' president and selected other March 2006 elections won by Presi- within the United States or in the pos- officials. dent Alexander Lukashenko, which session of U.S. citizens or companies the United States and others decried outside the United States. Bush's declaration of last June men- as fraudulent. Lukashenko had organ- tioned the undermining of the former ized a referendum in 2004 to allow 15/06/2007 Soviet republic's "democratic proc- him to run for a constitutionally for- esses or institutions" and bidden third term. Source: PR-inside.com

UN Rights Council Drops Belarus and Cuba Monitors

Reports say the United Russia is reported to Palestinian territories. Nations' Human Rights have led demands for Council has agreed that the end of the mandate The Human Rights Council last year Belarus and Cuba will of the monitor for Bela- replaced the UN Human Rights Com- be taken off a list of rus. mission, which was widely criticized countries whose rights for ignoring rights abuses in some of its records receive special Belarus and Cuba are members. scrutiny. accused of human rights abuses, particu- But the new council has also come in At a meeting of the 47- larly of political rights. for criticism, most recently when it nation council in Geneva, independent decided in March to end scrutiny of monitors who studied the human rights Reports said the council has backed con- Iran and Uzbekistan. tinued annual human rights reports on records of Belarus and Cuba were not 19/06/2007 reappointed. places including Haiti, Somalia, Congo, Sudan, Cambodia, North Korea, and the Source: Reuters

Prosecutor’s Office Demands Tougher Sentence for Shchukin

The Prosecutor’s office of Pershamajski district of Vitsebsk has appealed against a verdict to a well-known human rights ac- tivist Valery Shchukin, demanding to remand the case for a new trial, the human rights activist told.

A well-known human rights activist Valery Shchukin was sentenced to a fine of 40 basic units (1,240,000 rubles) by the court of Pershamajski district of Vitsebsk. Besides, Valery Shchukin is to pay 250,000 rubles of moral damages. Valery Shchukin had been accused of inflicting moral damage to a member of the regional election commission Tastyana Buevich.

A 65-year-old human rights activist is charged with violation of article 189 of Criminal Code - insult of members and work- ers of the election commissions during the campaign for election of deputies of local Councils of the 25th convocation now.

After elections to local Soviets which were held in Belarus on January 14, 2007, the human rights activist distributed leaflets saying that members of election commissions took part in rigging election results.

“The Prosecutor’s office brought up a criminal action against me without any grounds for that. Initially they brought up a criminal case for “damaging the interests of the state and society”. And I was tried for alleged insult of election commission members. Now the prosecutor’s office is trying to get out of a scrape. The sentence is most likely to be reversed,” Valery Shchukin said commenting on appealing against the verdict by the prosecutor’s office.

21/06/2007 Source: Charter’97 ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 4

Politics and Society Global Watchdog Includes Belarus in 10-Country List of "Worst Press Freedom Abusers"

In its surveylooking at the situation in prison sentence as punishment for the of moving to control the Internet, in 195 countries, the US-based global offence. "The same prison terms apply particular regularly block the websites human rights watchdog has blasted the to those convicted of distributing "false of independent media outlets, opposition Belarusian government's move to pass information" about Belarus' political, parties and non-governmental organiza- a bill criminalizing efforts to "discredit economic, social, or international situa- tions. Belarus in the eyes of international tion," Freedom House says. organizations and foreign govern- 24/06/2007 ments" and introducing a two-year The watchdog also has accused Minsk Source: BelaPAN

Opposition Activists Condemn Report Aired by Belarusian TV

The channel reported that Barys Haret- Front member, told, Sunday's report scribed the report as a "provocation." ski, a leader of featured footage of Mr. "This is how secret services and au- an unregistered Haretski's arrest six thorities are taking their revenge on the youth group months ago. "Barys Ha- BPF. I also believe that this is the gov- called Malady retski was indeed de- ernment's nervous response to the abo- Front, and three tained at the border and lition of Belarus' preferences in trade members of the had his laptop seized with the European Union and a signal Belarusian Popu- then. There was no de- that the period of liberalization is lar Front (BPF) tention on June 23 or 24. over," the politician said. had been de- The more so as Mr. Ha- tained at the Pol- retski was to leave for The First Channel press office declined ish border. Two Strasbourg on Sunday to to comment on the report. laptop computers with files containing attend an international conference of information on explosive devices and non-governmental organizations un- the perpetration of terror attacks were der the Council of Europe. The con- 25/06/2007 said to have been seized from the activ- ference is held between June 25 and ists. 29," Ms. Polazhanka said. Source: naviny.by As Anastasiya Palazhanka, a Malady BPF leader Vintsuk Vyachorka de-

Belarusian Oil Executive Charged With Corruption Amnesty Postponed for Later Period Prosecutors in Belarus say they have charged the former head of the coun- try's state-run oil processing company with corruption and other offenses, The draft law on amnesty is being studied RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. by the presidential administration for a Belarusian Prosecutor-General Pyotr Miklashevich said Alyaksandr Ba- few months already, Interior Minister rouski, who headed the Belarusian State Petrochemical Industry Concern, Uladzimir Navumau told while speaking Belnaftakhim, had been charged with embezzlement, abuse of office, and in the Chamber of Representatives. disclosing state secrets. The minister explained the reason for de- lay: “There is no understanding in presi- Miklashevich told a press conference in Minsk that the charges were related dential administration on exact definition to crude and petroleum deliveries. of certain categories of citizens who could be granted amnesty”. Barouski was arrested last month along with several other heads of state-run The minister did not specify with which and private companies. categories of citizens the administration Belnaftakhim accounts for more than one-fourth of Belarus's exports. has no clarity. Earlier unofficial sources informed that In a separate case, Miklashevich said two officers in Belarus's KGB and one the amnesty would be timed to July 3, the police officer had been arrested and charged with taking bribes. official state holiday of the Republic of Belarus. 25/06/2007 Source: Radio Free Europe 26/06/2007 Source: Charter’97 ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 5 Politics and Society Belarusian Authorities Block Initiative to Amend Labour-Contract System

The Central Election conference in May was attended by 246 people, while at Commission (TsVK) least 248 were required for the 495-strong group to be regis- on June 26 denied tered. The TsVK also said the changes to labour laws pro- registration to a posed by the group are inconsistent with the constitution and group that hoped to other regulations. Fyadynich told journalists later the same change the country's day that he will continue pushing amendments to the con- fixed-term labour- tract system, which he described as "slave-like." President contract system, Be- Alyaksandr Lukashenka introduced a short-term contract lapan reported. The system for employees of state-owned businesses in 2004, group -- led by Henadz Fyadynich, leader of the Belaru- replacing the previous life-term one. The system has been sian Union of Electronics Industry Workers -- needed extensively criticized by the Belarusian opposition and inde- TsVK registration to launch a campaign to initiate pendent trade unionists, who assert that the government uses changes to labor laws that would scrap the fixed-term it to dismiss independent union members and opposition contract requirement for employees. The group planned political activists. to collect 50,000 signatures, which would make it possi- ble to put the issue on the agenda of the Chamber of 27/06/2007 Representatives, Belarus's lower legislative chamber. Source: Radio Svaboda The TsVK argued that the group's founding conference

Venice Commission of Council of Europe to Examine Opposition's "Small Constitution"

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe will examine the "small constitution," a document that was adopted at the May 26-27 Congress of Pro-democratic Forces.

Thomas Markert, deputy secretary of the Venice Commission, told a delegation of Belarusian opposition parties and NGOs about this in Strasburg this week, said Katsyaryna Tkachenka, spokes- woman for the United Civic Party.

The "small con- stitution" was drawn up bythe Na- tional Committee of Pro-democratic Forces, a shadow cabinet estab- lished by a group of Belarusian oppo- sition parties and NGOs known as United Pro-democratic Forces. It is a draft constitution for a period of transition from Belarus' present au- thoritarian rule to democracy, its authors claim.

The document was submitted to the Council of Europe this past April.

Ms. Tkachenka said that the Belarusian delegation was scheduled to meet with PACE President Rene van der Linden on June 27.

The Venice Commission is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters. It is composed of independent experts who have achieved eminence through their experience in democratic institutions or bytheir contribution to the en- hancement of law and political science. Belarus is an associated member of the commission.

28/06/2007

Source: BelaPAN ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 6

Economics Belarus Joins Burma as EU Trade Outcast

Belarus at midnight on Thursday (21 state decision. things would have been different," the June) became the second ever country EU contact said. to be kicked off the EU's 36-year old Minsk in a statement said the "short- "GSP" trade scheme, but some EU sighted step taken by the EU towards First millionaire states believe the move is ill-judged. its immediate neighbour affects in the first place the interests of ordinary Ordinary Belarusians live on $170 a The suspension of Belarus from the Belarusian citizens" and called for the month. But Polish daily Dziennik 1971 Generalized System of Prefer- EU to "reverse it immediately." reports the country's tax authorities ences (GSP) on trade will see extra this week saw an unnamed Belarus tariffs of up to 3 percentage points Belarus has also queried Brussels' citizen post an income of $9 million - imposed on imports to the EU of claim the decision was a purely the first official millionaire in the products such as forestry and textile "technical" process based on ILO country's history. goods. compliance. "It was a political deci- sion - the ILO said we made progress, The US state department believes that The move comes after the Geneva- but this was not taken into account," a president Aleksander Lukashenko has based International Labour Organisa- diplomat said. skimmed off a personal fortune of tion (ILO) said Minsk had fulfilled over $1 billion, part of which had just four of 12 necessary pro-trade The position has been echoed by Bel- been stashed in Serbia but is now kept union reforms, with the extra tariffs arus' EU neighbours, Latvia, Poland in unknown locations. and Lithuania, who had fought the set to cost the country around ?400 Another Polish paper, Rzeczpospolita, million a year. move at EU-level, saying the Belaru- sian nomenklatura's income comes writes that senior Belarus official Vik- Asian dictatorship Burma in 1997 was from arms and energy sales - not cov- tor Sheiman could be posted to Vene- the only other country ever to have ered by GSP. zuela in order to transfer Luka- faced GSP sanctions, despite the fact shenko's fortune to Caracas, should that other GSP beneficiaries - such as An EU official said that close per- the Belarusian president one day seek Uzbekistan - have worse workers' sonal ties between senior ILO and EU asylum. rights records than Belarus. officials have helped Brussels get the kind of ILO reports it wants, with "Our number one interest in Vene- The GSP suspension is reversible, but other issues such as political prisoners zuela is in the energy sector," the Bel- it is much harder to get back into the also impacting the reading of ILO arusian diplomat said, calling the system than to stay in: the months- texts. Rzeczpospolita article "fantastic long process would involve a new speculation." ILO report, a new European Commis- "It's well known that if they had re- 21/06/2007 Source: EU Observer sion recommendation and a new EU leased all the political prisoners,

Belgazprombank Raises $35-Billion Syndicated Loan

Belgazprombank, a Minsk- Britain. Olimp in 1993 and Belgazprombank af- based financial institution ter Gazprom acquired the controlling in which Russia's natural The loan, which has interest in 1997. Britain's The Banker gas giant Gazprom and included Belgazprombank in the top 50 Gazprombank hold a ma- been ex- tended for fastest-developing banks in Central jority stake, has drawn a Europe and the CIS in 2004. $35-million syndicated a period loan for financing trade. of one The bank has been servicing all opera- year and tions of Gazprom in Belarus since 2003. As a source at the bank can be It has branches in all the five regions of told the loan was arranged prolonged the country. by Germany's Bayern LB and Rus- for another year, is to be used to fi- sia's Gazprombank and nance trade transactions of Belgaz- Vneshtorgbank. Contributions prombank's major clients. were made by banks in the Nether- 27/06/2007 lands, Switzerland, Latvia, the Founded by a group of private stock- United States, Hungary, Slovenia, holders under the name of Ekoraz- Source: BelaPAN Portugal, Russia, Germany and vitiye in 1990, the bank was renamed ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 7

EU and Belarus

OSCE Minsk Office Organizes Seminar on Alternative Energy Sources

tive energy sources," said Am- OSCE Office stands ready to further bassador Ake Peterson, the Head assist the Government of Belarus in of the OSCE Office. achieving its ambitious targets in the field on renewable energies, by bring- "All initiatives in this respect ing in foreign expertise and technolo- should be welcomed, and close gies. consultations with academics, civil society and foreign partners The OSCE will also look into the pos- are needed." sibility of launching larger scale pro- jects related to energy security and Belarus is highly dependent on alternative energies included in the imported oil and gas, and is now portfolio of the Environment and Secu- Creating legal conditions for devel- eager to diversify energy sources as oping renewable alternative energy rity initiative ENVSEC jointly man- well as to increase energy effi- aged with UN partners. sources is the focus of a seminar or- ciency. ganized by the OSCE Office and the The National Law Drafting Centre was National Law Drafting Centre in The OSCE Office in Minsk is devel- represented at today's seminar by Dep- Minsk today. oping two more projects with the uty Director Valery Doroshkevich. Ecological International Sakharov It brought together key stakeholders Environmental University in Minsk. from the energy and economics sec- They focus on capacity-building for tors, environmental experts and re- the education specialists and on rais- gional policy-makers. ing awareness of students in Minsk 19/06/2007 "We support the development of poli- and the Mogilev region. Source: Trend News Agency cies in Belarus on renewable alterna- Ambassador Peterson added that the

Special Rapporteur on Belarus at Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to Visit Minsk in October

Mario Andrea Rigoni, special rapporteur on Belarus at Belarus to become a de- the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly mocratic country over- (PACE), will visit Minsk in October, the press office of night, but the government the Council of Europe told. could start with reforming its Criminal Code and On June 21, Mr. Rigoni met in Rome with Syarhey legislative system. Haydukevich, the Belarusian foreign minister's special representative for relations with European parliamen- In an interview with, Mr. tary organizations. Haydukevich, chairman of the Liberal Democratic According to the press office, Mr. Rigoni reiterated his Party, described his meeting with Mr. Rigoni and talks at the concern about the existence of political prisoners in Italian foreign ministry as "very fruitful, positive and useful." Belarus. Mr. Haydukevich argued that there are no political prisoners in Belarus, but there are criminals "I'm sure that the content of my conversation with the foreign who call themselves political prisoners. Mr. Rigoni ministry's representatives would be reported to their leader- asked for the lawmaker's assistance in arranging meet- ship," he said. ings with these people during this forthcoming visit. According to Mr. Haydukevich, he will have a meeting with Mr. Haydukevich reportedly noted that the Belarusian PACE President Rene van der Linden in Strasbourg on June government is ready to cooperate with the European 23. Union. Mr. Rigoni stressed that Europe does not expect 23/06/2007 Source: BelaPAN ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 8

Culture Uladzimir Karatkevich: Belarus as a Bestseller story, appears to be an elaborate enemy. The Soviet regime had trap. Having once opened the never reverenced for the Tsar re- book, one has a real difficulty shut- gime, but the very idea of Belaru- ting it. sians rebelling against the Russian rule was nevertheless highly suspi- Let’s hear how Andrey Khadano- cious. No wonder Karatkevich had vich, one of the most successful to fight censors while working on modern Belarusian poets, describes this novel. his first encounter with Karatke- vich: Having turned over the last page of „The Ears of Rye under Thy Sickle“ “It was 1989. I was 16 years old. I one can’t help looking for some- Belarusian literature is a school sub- unfolded the freshly printed vol- ject which is quite easy to hate. Es- thing else by this author. Indeed, ume of Uladzimir Karatkevich Karatkevich has a lot to offer. „The pecially if you are a teenager, the with the first part of “The Ears of sun is shining brightly through the Wild Hunt of King Stakh“ is a Rye under Thy Sickle”. It was an novel with an aura of a Dracula hor- classroom window, and the teacher incredible experience. I lost the is humming like a drowsybee. The ror story. The narrator is a young feeling of time and folklorist who travels all over Bela- major source of bore- came to my senses dom, however, is the rus, looking for folk songs and po- only after the first ems. On a stormy night he finds textbook itself – an as- book had been swal- sortment of poems, himself in the ancient manor, situ- lowed. I was looking ated in the midst of vast swamps prose extracts, and short for reading its sequel biographies of the au- and gloomy woods in a faraway just as impatiently, as corner of the country. One night is thors. The traditional today’s kids crave for piece of Belarusian lit- enough to realize that the house is reading another haunted and its owners and erature is a constant Harry Potter book”. lamentation about the neighbours suffer from the old curse „bitter fortune“ of the “The Ears of Rye – the Wild Hunt, the herd of dead poor folk, accompanied under Thy Sickle” is horsemen, who used to go after the by vivid verbal images an exciting life story traitors in the deep past, but now of a typical Belarusian of Ales Zahorski, the chase down fair people. The narra- fellow – a barefooted young Belarusian tor unravels the tangle of mysteries peasant with the matted duke, who would and finds his love in the end. greasy hair. Perhaps such motifs later take part in the Belarusian The novel is a great example of were quite topical on the verge of uprising of 1863-1864 against the Karatkevich’s skill to fool the cen- the 19th and the 20th century. To be oppressive Russian tsarist rule. sors. The Wild Hunt is often inter- honest, today this image is simply Unlike heroes of many previous preted as a subtle reference to not sexy. books by Belarusian authors, be- „Pahonia“ (‚pursuit’), the ancient wildered and naive countrymen, Belarusian symbol – an armed The pastoral aesthetics has spread who feel themselves utterly un- through the Belarusian literature horseman, who chases away the comfortable outside of their native enemy. The very mentioning of like a long-lasting epidemic, ri- village, Ales Zahorski is smart and valled, perhaps, only by the literary „Pahonia“ was virtually prohibited flexible, honest and brave. He is in the Soviet Union. By writing the recollections of the World War II. similarly skilled in riding an un- Used to cliché-laden stories, the „Wild Hunt of King Stakh“ Karat- saddled horse, as in speaking kevich showed the old symbol of school pupils are usually quite re- French or German. luctant to get their hands on the first upper justice misused by villains. „I book of the epic „The Ears of Rye The traditional socialist realism awake and think that the Wild under Thy Sickle“ by Uladzimir literature would never tolerate a Hunt’s time is not over, until dark- Karatkevich. However, what sounds character like Ales Zahorski – at ness, injustice, and wicked horror like a good title for a kolkhoz love most he would be shown as a class exist on this Earth, “ he writes in the conclusion. This line allows double ISSUEXI BELARUS HEADLINES PAGE 9

Culture Uladzimir Karatkevich … reading – the Wild Hunt as the evil, Today his poetry is not less appeal- by Karatkevich is more close to re- or the Wild Hunt as the opposition ing than his prose – Karatkevich’s spect and pride. He teaches the to the evil. A metaphor which is poems were put into songs by reader to love Belarus not in spite not easy to be cracked by a censor, „Neuro Dubel“, a punk group fa- of, but because of the way it is. but quite obvious to a careful mind. mous in Belarus, and by Zmitsier Wajtsiushkevich, who is a distin- “There is another Belarus,” writes guished Belarusian chansonnier. Andrey Khadanovich. “A virtual country, which, probably, have Karatkevich is also the author of a never existed. But you can’t resist classic metaphor of Belarus as „the the temptation to apply for its citi- land under white wings“. This is a zenship. This is an ideal Belarus of title of its book, a guide to Belarus Uladzimir Karatkevich, which is written explicitly for Belarusians. populated by the noble knights, like- Karatkevich created it in 1971, able rascals, merry drunkards, and when the country was slipping into patriotic aristocrats with a talent for the era of the communistic stagna- poetry. There is no wonder why yet tion. One cannot help noticing how another generation of Belarusians many concessions Karatkevich had queues up for getting visas for this to make while writing “The Land land”. under White Wings”. He mentioned the banned names of repressed Bel- Prepared by Belarusian ancient emblem arusian intellectuals, but couldn’t “Paghonia” Ales Kudrytski for the Office for a name Stalin as their butcher. “There Democratic Belarus were Swedes and other rogues, but that’s a long and dif- Another novel by Karatkevich, ficult story,” Karat- „The Black Castle of Alshany“, kevich wrote about makes Dan Brown’s „The Da Vinci the invaders of the Code“ look as a dull screenplay. city of Mahiliou Anton Kosmich, 38, historian and a (Mogilev) in the habitual bachelor, inherits a medie- Middle Ages. Of val book from his friend, who dies course, he couldn’t in a mysterious way. Having say, that it were Rus- vowed to find the murderer, Anton sian troops, which sets off for the small town of Al- drowned the city in shany, where the book was found, blood in the 16th cen- deciphering one ancient puzzle af- tury. ter another. Medieval history, the WWII events, and the present time are tied into an exciting knot of Karatkevich died in love, death and mystery. The lan- 1984, at theageof guage Karatkevich uses is not man- 54. One can only nered, but genuine, natural, and guess, how his talent would de- strikingly modern. The novel pre- velop, if he lived to see the Belaru- sents him as one of the few Belaru- sian independence, and wouldn’t be We in WEB sian authors, who, being romantic, bound by the ideology and censors. www.democraticbelarus.eu don’t loose the touch with reality. Most previous Belarusian authors As talented in prose as he was, inspired love to Belarus, which Karatkevich came into literature as could hardly be distinguished from a poet with his distinctive style. pity. The love to Belarus inspired