INTERNATIONAL ACTION ON BEHALF OF ARRESTED BELARUSAN DEPUTIES.

Forty-three Ukrainian parliamentary deputies have signed an international appeal in support of Andrei Klimau and Uladzimir Kudzinau, the arrested deputies of the legitimate Belarusan parliament. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka forcibly disbanded that parliament in 1996, declaring the parliamentary immunity of its members to have lapsed. But the active rump of that parliament continues enjoying official international recognition (except by Russia). Its members are considered entitled to their immunity.

Klimau and Kudzinau have been in jail since last year. The legitimate parliament’s international relations committee is gathering signatures on their behalf from parliamentarians of various countries. Committee chairman Anatol Lyabedzka, a social-democrat, serves as the contact point for the signature collection (Belapan, September 15).

RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS: CONVERGENT FORECASTS FROM A COMMUNIST AND A DEMOCRAT.