Belarusian Opposition Leaders Warn Of Dictatorship

19 October 2004 -- Belarusian opposition leaders warned today that the country is a full-fledged dictatorship and is a testing ground for similar plans in Russia.
Visiting Moscow, seven leading opposition figures told a press conference that the 17 October referendum on a plan to scrap a constitutional limit of two terms for presidents was deeply dishonest.

The referendum was accompanied by parliamentary elections.

Poet and former ambassador Gennadii Buravkin warned that Russian acceptance of the official voting results suggests that the same scenario is in store for Russia.

Russia has endorsed the voting, while the Organization For Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, and the United States all said the voting failed to meet democratic standards.

(AP/AFP)