BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/04/2006

Foreign minister condemns arrest of Belarus opposition leader

The foreign affairs minister on Friday condemned the arrest of Belarus' main opposition leader as "unacceptable," according to a statement released by his office.

Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, who currently chairs the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe - the continent's top human rights watchdog, said Belarusian authorities were violating people's freedom of association and expression and had silenced the opposition.

Alexander Milinkevich, who has spearheaded the wave of unprecedented protests against the authoritarian government of President Alexander Lukashenko, was sentenced to 15 days in jail along with other opposition leaders after a protest rally Wednesday in the Belarusian capital.

Ungureanu urged the authorities in Minsk to "urgently free the opposition leader and respect international human rights agreements that Belarus has signed," the statement said.

Source:

http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=25732