Church spokesmen in
Belarus said Catholics are "uneasy and disquieted" by the lack of
information on the status of a parish priest arrested in early June for
alleged spying.
Father Vladislav Lazar, 46, pastor of Holy Spirit
Parish in Borisov in central Belarus, remained in custody Aug. 8, weeks
after he was taken into custody by the State Security Committee, or
KBG.
"All we know is he's still in prison, with no prospect of
being freed," Father Yury Sanko, press director of the Belarus bishops'
conference, told Catholic News Service.
"We await clarification
of the charges against him, as well as proper notification of his
arrest. For now, we can't make a formal statement or lodge a complaint,"
Father Sanko said.
The spokesman said church relations with the
government of President Alexander Lukashenko were "continuing normally,"
without "special tension," but added that parishioners in Borisov were
"exhausted and worried" by the lack of contact with him.
Meanwhile,
an editor at the church's Catholic.By online news agency, Father Yury
Martinovic, told CNS that Catholics nationwide had been left "uneasy and
disquieted" by the arrest of Father Lazar, who disappeared June 1 after
visiting his family home at Konyukhi in the predominantly Orthodox
former Soviet republic.
Speaking July 26 in Minsk, Lukashenko
said the KGB had detained a "traitor who served in special services and
was connected with foreign states through representatives of the Roman
Catholic Church." He said the arrested man had "not only surrendered
information, but also done damage to people working abroad."
Father
Sanko confirmed July 29 the arrest of the priest, who had been pastor
of Holy Spirit Parish in the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilov since April.
A
local parishioner, Natallia Darashkevich, told the independent
satellite TV station, Belsat, Aug.1 Father Lazar was an "excellent
priest and good man," who had "never engaged in political activity."
"His
accusation of espionage is totally absurd," she told Belsat, which
broadcasts from neighboring Poland under the auspices of Polish state
TV.
Catholics make up about 17 percent of the 10.3 million
inhabitants of Belarus, widely considered Europe's most repressive
state. They have complained of discrimination under Lukashenko, who has
been elected four times since 1994 amid claims of ballot-rigging and
intimidation.
The Belsat channel reported Aug. 7 that Catholics
had collected signatures via the Internet for a petition to Belarus's
Supreme Court demanding information about Father Lazar and a public
trial, and for a separate petition to Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz
of Minsk-Mohilev urging him to speak out "against gossip, slander and
misunderstanding dishonoring the church's reputation."
Yanina
Lazar, the priest's sister, told Belsat that his family had heard
nothing about him until he telephoned from police custody two weeks
after disappearing. She said family members had since been shadowed and
"controlled severely" by police.
Father Filippo Champanelli,
first secretary at the Vatican nunciature in Minsk, told CNS Aug. 8 that
the church would not comment on Father Lazar's arrest.