BELARUS: The murder of a journalist working for one of Belarus's few independent newspapers overshadowed rare celebrations yesterday among opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, after Washington slapped sanctions on his isolated regime writes Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest.
Veronika Cherkasova (44), who wrote for the independent trade union newspaper Solidarnost, was found dead in her flat with multiple stab wounds to her throat. Investigators said the motive for her killing was unclear, but it sent shivers through a journalistic community long-used to seeing publications shut down for criticising Mr Lukashenko.
Critics accuse his security services of assaulting, imprisoning and even murdering reporters.
News of Ms Cherkasova's death came just hours after President Bush signed into law a bill aimed at encouraging opposition groups and independent media in Belarus and barring US federal agencies from giving financial aid to the government.
The move followed sharp US criticism of a referendum last weekend which Mr Lukashenko said proved there was overwhelming public support for the abolition of a constitutional rule limiting him to two terms in office.
Washington and observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the polls were riddled with irregularities.
After signing the bill, Mr Bush said: "This bipartisan legislation demonstrates America's deep concern over events in Belarus and a commitment to sustain those Belarussians who must labour in the shadows to return freedom to their country.
"At a time when freedom is advancing around the world, Alexander Lukashenko and his government are turning Belarus into a regime of repression in the heart of Europe. There is no place in a Europe whole and free for a regime of this kind."
The move heartened Belarus's opposition movement after its election drubbing and the violent arrest of several of its leaders at a demonstration on Tuesday.
Mr Vintsuk Vyachorka, leader of the National Front party, said: "The fact that such a law is passed by one of the world's most influential democracies, which openly calls a dictatorship by its proper name, is great moral and political support for us."
Ms Irina Krasovskaya, whose husband Anatoly, an outspoken Lukashenko opponent, has disappeared, concurred. "This is an act we have been waiting for for a long time. This is a serious sign for Lukashenko. I doubt he sleeps well tonight."
A spokesman for the Belarussian Foreign Ministry, Mr Andrei Savinykh, said the US law was reminiscent of "the confrontational Cold War" approach. "This openly hostile act causes nothing but great sorrow," he said.
Mr Lukashenko relies heavily on neighbouring Russia for trade and support, even though the Kremlin has gone cold on plans to unify the two former Soviet allies. "We don't think sanctions solve these problems," said the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Sergei Lavrov.