Posted on 08/30/2005 3:15:53 AM PDT by Lukasz
MINSK -- A Belarussian court sentenced two Georgian pro-democracy activists to 15 days in custody Monday, while security authorities accused a former U.S. diplomat of conspiring against the government.
The latest moves came amid accusations by President Alexander Lukashenko that opponents and foreign forces were plotting to unseat him by fomenting change similar to the protests that have helped opposition leaders in other former Soviet states.
Security officials had said Friday that they would deport two Georgian activists accused of teaching their local counterparts to stage anti-government protests similar to the demonstrations that brought down Georgia's longtime leader two years ago.
But a district court in Minsk said it had sentenced Georgy Kandelaki and Luka Tsuladze to 15 days in custody after finding them guilty of "minor hooliganism." The court refused to say what the Georgians, detained Wednesday, were accused of doing.
A Belarussian opposition activist, Dmitry Bondarenko, claimed that the Georgians were beaten and that the sentences were imposed to keep them in custody until their wounds heal. He said authorities often take similar measures against Belarussian opposition protesters.
Amid strained ties with the United States, whose administration has called Belarus a dictatorship, the Belarussian KGB accused a former U.S. Embassy attache of violating Belarussian and international law, claiming he brought printed materials into the country for the opposition.
The accusations were based on a report in the weekly Obozrevatel, in which a woman identified only as Nastya S. is quoted as claiming that she had a romantic relationship with Joseph Martin, an attache at the embassy from 2000 to 2002, and that he brought the propaganda across the border from Lithuania in a car with diplomatic plates.
The article, in the form of an interview with his alleged accuser, is accompanied by photos that appear to depict the woman, Martin and former U.S. Ambassador Michael Kozak. It quotes her as saying that Martin told her there would be a revolution in Belarus.
Jailed for "minor hooliganism."
Where have I heard that before? >>> Iran
"minor hooliganism." = exactly swearing in the police station (how Stalinist…)
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