This survey document is proposed to the adoption by consensus into the substantiation of the limitations of the "public agreement of

1. forms of punishments for the political activity.

The public meetings, not sanctioned by state, can entail punishment to 15 days of arrest or large money penalties. As showed the experience of recent months, punishment is possible even for the meetings, conducted in the closed accomodations (see the case ROO "prospect" October 2005).

Public statements and activity on behalf of the groups unregistered in the public bodies, motions and associations are declared illegal. Form of punishment - of up to two years of prison.

The public statements, which contain the criticism of the President and organs of authority, can treat by law court as slander and entail of up to 5 years of the imprisonment.

The attitude [of the authorities] towards activists, accused of the offenses of political nature, is to adopt the most rigid of those provided by the law of the versions of the punishment (see the case Of marinicha).

Students undergo additional pressure - participation in the political or social actions after the framework of state public association BRSM is semi-official occasion for the pursuit of such students and is a basis for their removal from VUZ - Institute of Higher Education.

2. practice of the application of the punishments

The methods of power pursuit indicated are not total. At the same time, as the practice of the last five years shows, they are a convenient tool in the hands of authority for suppression and frightening of any oppositional groups, independent of their ideological aims. As a rule, these tools are applied suddenly and effectively, as soon as the special services make a decision about the suppression or weakening of any group.

3. position of Belorussian indymedia.

On the basis of the right of media-activists to the protection from the attacks listed above, the association of Belorussian indymedia adopts the following positions, represented in the public agreement:

1) each activist has right to anonymity - keeping his/her real name and any personal data secret to those limits, which s/he him/herself will consider as possible.

2) support of regular open encounters in the real world as the basic tool of work is not completely possible, because it is not possible to entirely realize the right of activist to the protection from the state. Participants in the meeting at any moment on the resolution of the police can be detained, according to the law, and are arrested for the period up to 15 days. The impossibility to guarantee safety to any participant in the open encounter substantially decreases democratism of this approach.

3) conducting the open consideration on the website in accordance with the mechanisms, described in the

Without rejecting as a whole the public encounters as method of operation, we are forced to recognize that today their use as the basic tool of collaboration is the less effective and more risky way, than discussion of questions on the appropriate public division of site in combination with the personal contacts "face to face".

Softening or a change in the form of the state policy of the pursuit of (attack against) political activists can change this situation. The association of Belorussian Indymedia promises to, once every 6 months, examine a renovated version of this document, and to discuss the possibility of the complete or gradual removal of the limitations, formulated in p. 3.4 of public agreement.