Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Belarus

Czechs Call On Belarus To Free Opposition Leader

Alyaksandr Kazulin (file photo) (RFE/RL)

December 14, 2006 -- The Czech government has called on Belarus's authorities to release the opposition leader Alyaksandr Kazulin from prison and to provide him with immediate health care.

TEXT SIZE - +

December 14, 2006

The call came after four major Central European newspapers -- the Czech paper "Lidove Noviny", Poland's "Gazeta Wyborcza", Lithuania's "Lietuvos Rytas", and Slovakia's "SME" -- published an open letter on December 13 urging their respective governments to press for Kazulin's release.

Kazulin, who was jailed for five and a half years for leading protests against the reelection in March of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, ended a 53-day hunger strike on December 12.

(AP, lidovky.cz, Charter 97)

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."

'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

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (center) drinking beer with soccer fans in St. Petersburg on January 19.

Candidate Putin Offers Russian Soccer Fans Free Flights To Euro 2012

Russian soccer fans concerned about making it to Kyiv for the Euro 2012 championships need worry no longer. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced the country's leading airlines will provide free transport to and from at least some of the Russian team's matches. More