30 March 2008
Homyel university students who signed petition for recall of locally elected lawmaker brought to account

Students at Francisak Skaryna Homyel State University who had signed a petition for the recall of locally elected House of Representatives member Alyaksandr Shawko were ordered to give an account.

Local opposition activists initiated a drive for the recall of the lawmaker after he had voted to abolish benefits and privileges for the students, retirees, disabled people and other social groups, thereby failing to meet his pre-election promises.
Some 60 students of the Homyel university signed the petition.

On March 28, after the Homyel City Executive Committee had sent a list of them to the administration of the university, such students were summoned to the dean’s office and ordered to write accounts as to why they had taken part in the campaign for the recall of the lawmaker, local opposition activist Pyotr Kuznyatsow told BelaPAN.

He noted that that might have been done by order of the city ideology department for the purpose of intimidating the students. “It’s still unclear if any punitive measures would be used against them,” he said.