Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Belarus

Belarusian Opposition Leader Urges Wider Hunger Strike

Kazulin in February (RFE/RL)

November 27, 2006 -- Belarusian opposition leader Alyaksandr Kazulin is calling on other opposition leaders to show their solidarity by joining him on his five-week-old hunger strike.

TEXT SIZE - +

November 27, 2006

In a statement posted on his press service's website, Kazulin said he will end his hunger strike if other opposition leaders join the protest. He has said his action is meant to galvanize the country's disunited opposition.

MORE: Coverage in Belarusian from RFE/RL's Belarus Service.

Kazulin is currently serving a 5 1/2-year sentence in a prison near the city of Vitebsk, close to the Russian border.

He was sentenced on July 13 on charges of hooliganism and disorderly conduct for organizing a protest against the reelection of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in March and for attempting to hold a press conference as a newly registered presidential candidate.

Kazulin's wife, Irina, said today her husband would also agree to call off his hunger strike if at least one country pledges to discuss the situation in Belarus at the UN Security Council.

Kazulin has lost almost 20 kilograms since he started fasting on October 20.

(Interfax)

RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, And Moldova Report

SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and analysis on Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, And Moldova Report."

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

'Police Detain Stuffed Animals' In Minsk Toy Protest

Belarusian youth activists say police have "detained" some stuffed animals used in an antigovernment protest in Minsk, in an echo of similar recent protests in Russia. More

There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of 'Pirates Of The Danube' Get The Old Heave-Ho

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More