BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
24/01/2011
Hungary disputes attack on Belarus envoy
BRUSSELS, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Hungary is denying its ambassador to Belarus was beaten by police, but other sources have confirmed the attack.
Two senior diplomatic sources told the EUObserver Ambassador Ferenc Kontra confirmed to fellow diplomats that police hit him on the head during the suppression of protests over alleged election fraud in Minsk Dec 19.
Kontra is in a Minsk hospital for treatment of an eye problem he said was unrelated to the beating.
A third source told the EUObserver the attack took place on the fringes of the mass demonstration and that another Hungarian diplomat was hit in the kidneys at another location. Lithuanian Ambassador Edminas Bagdonas also was roughed up while observing the protests.
Kontra's deputy, Laslo Darotsy, told the EUobserver by phone from Minsk Monday, "I have checked and there were no beatings. No one was hit."
Hungary holds the presidency of the European Union, which is considering a visa ban on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and canceling economic aid.
Source:
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