July 7, 2004 BELARUSIAN DISSIDENT LAWMAKER ATTACKED
Five unidentified men attacked Chamber of Representatives member Valery Fralou and his driver in Minsk late on 1 July, BelaPAN and RFE/RL's Belarusian Service reported on 2 July. The attackers seized Fralou's wallet, suitcase, passport, and the passport of another lawmaker, Syarhey Skrabets. Fralou and Skrabets, together with colleague Uladzimir Parfyanovich, staged a 19-day hunger strike in June in an effort to amend the country's Election Code and secure the release of jailed politician Mikhail Marynich. "The timing and circumstances of the attack on Valery Fralou suggest political motives for this crime," commented Uta Zapf, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Working Group on Belarus.
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