He has also said that parliamentary observers at the Belarussian referendum had no doubts about the legitimacy of the event.
This is how he commented on the trip of three groups of parliamentary observers representing the Russian-Belarussian parliamentary assembly, the CIS parliamentary assembly and the State Duma.
The Duma speaker continued, "our observers will provide a report about their activity by the end of the day, which will be handed out at the plenary session." Already now, Mr. Gryzlov said, it is obvious that "the report will be positive and include no wrongdoing."
The US appraisal of the referendum in Belarus is one-sided, said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Duma committee for international affairs.
"The US decision on economic sanctions will not mean introducing but extending sanctions that the U.S. already had imposed on Belarus for a few years," Mr. Kosachev noted.
US President George Bush has signed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, envisaging sanctions against this country for democratic violations.
The Act implies that sanctions should remain valid until the US president confirms to the respective Congress committees that the Belarussian government has made considerable progress on the points mentioned in the document.
In particular, it demands that people imprisoned for political or religious views be freed; politically motivated charges against all opposition members and independent journalists in Belarus be withdrawn; and full account of the disappearance of Belarussian opposition politicians and journalists be provided.
The document contains a demand to put an end to all forms of intimidation and repressions against independent media, independent trade unions and non-governmental and religious organizations, as well as the political opposition inBelarus.
The last point is the demand to hold free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Belarus.
The section concerning sanctions puts a ban on the US loans, credit guarantees, insurance payments, financing and any other financial aid to the Belarussian government. US representatives in international organizations such as the IMF, the WB and others are supposed to vote down any aid to Belarus from these organizations.
The US president is bound to report to the Congress on Belarussian weapons and combat technologies provision to countries supporting international terrorism, within 90 days after the law comes into force, i.e. before January 20, 2005. This report is to contain all countries and cite all goods, services, loans and other repayments that Belarus will receive in exchange for its weapons and arm technologies.
The Act also requires that the US president's report to the Congress include the information about the personal fortune and property of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and the top Belarussian officials.
