BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/08/2006

Denouncing Belarus

The U.S. Embassy in Belarus said yesterday that it has demanded the release of an opposition presidential candidate and four election observers, all convicted in "politically motivated" trials.

Jonathan Moore, the charge d'affaires at the embassy, and a German diplomat representing the European Union "recently carried out parallel demarches," or diplomatic protests, over the sentencing of Aleksandr Kozulin, who challenged President Alexander Lukashenko in the March election, and Nikolai Astreiko, Timofei Dranchuk, Enira Bronitskaya and Alexander Shalaiko of the Partnership, a nongovernmental organization that attempted to monitor the vote.

Mr. Lukashenko, widely derided as the "last dictator in Europe," won another five-year term in the election that Western monitors called fraudulent. He has ruled the former Soviet republic since 1994.

In a statement on the embassy's Web site (http://minsk.usembassy.gov), Mr. Moore noted "with regret" that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry refused his request for a high-level meeting to discuss the five political prisoners.

"The United States and the EU see these trials as clearly politically motivated and expressed their deep concerns at the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation and the further erosion of the democratic process in Belarus," the embassy said.

The election observers received sentences ranging from six months to two years in a closed-door trial on Aug. 4. They were convicted of participating in an illegal organization. Mr. Kozulin was sentenced earlier to 5? years in prison for organizing a march to protest the election.

Source:

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20060815-100831-1221r.htm