Watchdog

BAKU -- Azerbaijan's opposition "Yeni Musavat" (New Equality) newspaper has started a campaign to sustain its operations amid pressure from authorities.

The newspaper's chief editor and founder, Rauf Arifoglu, wrote on his Facebook account on November 11 that his periodical will begin a two-day campaign on November 12 to collect as many subscriptions as possible.

Arifoglu called on Azerbaijan's intellectuals and supporters to subscribe to his newspaper for any length of time -- two weeks, a month, six months, or a year.

He promised to deliver the newspaper promptly to subscribers' homes.

"We need your prayers, your subscriptions, and your support as the authorities have confiscated 3,000 copies of our newspaper from circulation" at kiosks and newsstands, Arifoglu wrote.

Last week, the newspaper switched temporarily to online-only operations to raise the awareness of the problems it faces.

MINSK -- A pensioner from the southeastern Belarusian city of Homel has received three days in jail for wearing a T-shirt bearing a slogan demanding President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's resignation.

Yury Rubtsou was found guilty on November 4 of not following police instructions.

He took part in a march to commemorate ancestors held in a Minsk suburb on November 3.

Rubstou's T-shirt carried a slogan that said, "Lukashenka, Go Away!"

Police arrested him after he ignored their request to take off the T-shirt.

At the trial in Minsk, Rubtsou recalled that Lukashenka had said in a televised statement that he would leave his post if the Belarusian people requested it.

"So, I have asked him to resign," Rubtsou said in his defense.

Lukashenka, who has been running the country since 1994, has been criticized by human rights organizations for his authoritarian rule.