BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
22/02/2008
EU Urges Belarusian Authorities To Release All Political Prisoners As Belarusian Court Clears Release Of Imprisoned Journalist
The European Parliament on February 21 unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the imprisoned former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin and revise the three-year prison term given to journalist Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou, Belapan reported. The resolution "takes note" of the recent release of several opposition activists, but at the same time it condemns the new arrests, jail sentences, and expulsions from universities that have followed peaceful demonstrations. The European Parliament welcomed "the recent developments on the agreements to establish the European Commission's delegation in Minsk" and called on the authorities to "implement OSCE standards in the organization of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for September 28, 2008." The resolution also urges the international community to provide more support for civil society in Belarus and, in particular, to "increase financial aid to the independent media, to nongovernmental organizations and to Belarusian students studying abroad." AM
At a closed-door meeting on February 22, Belarus's Supreme Court shortened the three-year prison term given to journalist Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou to three months, which should lead to his release, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Following his arrest in November 2007, Zdzvizhkou was sentenced on January 18 for publishing cartoons displaying the Prophet Muhammad in the independent newspaper "Zhoda" in 2006. The Minsk city court found him guilty of "inciting racial, national, or religious enmity or discord." Zdzvizhkou appealed against the sentence. Zdzvizhkou's lawyer, Maya Alyaksandrava, told the broadcaster that the Supreme Court took into consideration the extraordinary circumstances and that her client should be released by the end of the day. "I hoped for such a decision, but this was a very slender hope," the broadcaster quoted Zdzvizhkou's mother as saying. Zdzvizhkou, along with recently released former legislator Andrey Klimau and former presidential candidate Kazulin, is regarded by the West as having been persecuted for his political views. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-220208.asp
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