…WHILE PRESIDENT CREATES OBEDIENT YOUTH ORGANIZATION.

Attending celebrations of the Russian armed forces’ day on Minsk’s central square, Lukashenko staged a meeting on February 23 with founding activists of the "Direct Action" youth organization, which is supposed to become a country-wide movement "supporting the president and his political and economic policies." (Interfax, Itar-Tass, February 23) Lukashenko has repeatedly bemoaned the Komsomol’s demise. The presidential administration had announced plans some months ago to create a successor organization, hoping to counter the opposition’s growing influence among the youth.

Azerbaijani Politician-Scholar Assassinated.