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Police have seized a Polish cultural centre in the town of Ivyanets outside Minsk. An activist who was travelling to the centre has also been detained. President Lukashenko claimed in 2005 the organisation responsible for the centre was trying to destabilise his regime and set up a government-approved alternative. Both the EU and the US have condemned the actions. There are around 400,000 Poles in Belarus. Belarus has also recently detained 20 activists demonstrating in support of political prisoners.
Moscow gay pride parade organisers have complained to the European Court of Human Rights about the ban on the 2009 parade. Moscow’s Mayor Luzhkow has previously labelled the parade “satanic” and the case follows a number of unsuccessful appeals against the bans in the Russian court system. Moscow Pride are seeking €200,000 in damages from the Russian Federation. The Strasbourg court has given Russian authorities ten days to lay out their position on the ban.
Murdered Bulgarian journalist Bobi Tsankove embraced life in the underworld. Beth Kampschror reports
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The UN Human Rights Council has passed a resolution condemning “stereotyping of religion”. It’s a move that flouts freedom of expression – and it was sponsored by the United States. Roy W Brown reports
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