BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/04/2008

Belarus president bars more political prisoner releases

Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus - Belarus' authoritarian president said Tuesday the country won't release imprisoned political figures early, despite pressure from the United States and Europe.

The U.S. and the European Union already have imposed various sanctions on Belarus to try to force the release of people they consider political prisoners, and the United States has threatened further sanctions.

Earlier this year, Belarus released a handful of political figures from detention early in what President Alexander Lukashenko called a goodwill gesture to the West.

But Lukashenko said in his annual address to Belarus' parliament that "we have closed the topic of political prisoners."

"If the Americans introduce new sanctions and think we will collapse, that's rubbish," he said.

Lukashenko, in office since 1994, has cracked down on opposition and independent news media and has been described by U.S. officials as "the last dictator in Europe."

Lukashenko also told lawmakers that he was opposed to establishing a government commissioner for human rights.

"Even without a commissioner we guarantee a person's right to life, the right to have work, pay and to feed his family," he said.

Source:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5740638.html

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