MINSK COURTS SENTENCE PRO-INDEPENDENCE DEMONSTRATORS.

Court proceedings are currently underway in Minsk against several leaders and activists of the Belarusan Popular Front (BPF) and the Youth Front, accused of participation in "mass disorders" on April 2. Those on trial, or already convicted to the usual "administrative" terms of up to fifteen days in prison and heavy fines, include BPF Board Secretary Vyachaslav Sivchyk — now hospitalized after a police beating — and Youth Front leader Pavel Severinets. On April 2 in downtown Minsk, some 400 demonstrators, mostly of the Youth Front, spoiled the authorities’ celebrations of the first anniversary of the Russia-Belarus Union. The police and courts of Minsk’s "Lenin" and "Soviet" districts then handled the arrested protesters. (Belapan, RTR, NTV, April 2 through 6)

Negotiations to Form Moldovan Government Mark Time.