BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/07/2006

Opposition Leader May Get Jail in Belarus

MINSK, Belarus -- Prosecutors on Thursday demanded a six-year jail term for an opposition leader on trial in Belarus for organizing an unauthorized protest of the disputed election of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Alexander Kozulin was one of two opposition politicians to run in the March 19 election.

"Kozulin's guilt as a person dangerous to society is now fully established," prosecutor Sergey Bortnik said, asking the court to sentence him to six years in prison.

His lawyer, Igor Rynkevich, complained that Kozulin was denied the right to make a final statement, calling it "an unprecedented, harsh decision that shows the lack of independence of the Belarusian courts."

The 50-year-old former bureaucrat has been in jail since leading the protest march six days after the disputed vote, which officials said was soundly won by incumbent Alexander Lukashenko but was condemned as rigged by the opposition.

Riot police broke up that march, beating demonstrators with truncheons.

Western nations called the vote undemocratic and have since imposed travel and financial sanctions on Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko, and called for Kozulin's release.

Lukashenko, branded "Europe's last dictator," has ruled the nation of 10 million since 1994, suppressing dissent and extending his time in office through votes widely considered illegitimate.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/13/AR2006071300559.html

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