BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/12/2006

Former Presidential Candidate Ends Hunger Strike

Another opposition presidential candidate, Alyaksandr Kazulin, on December 11 began to withdraw from his hunger strike, which he launched on October 20 in a correctional facility near Vitsebsk (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 12, 2006), RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Belapan reported on December 12, quoting his wife Iryna Kazulina. Kazulina was allowed to speak with her husband by telephone on December 12. "I have learned that he is withdrawing from the hunger strike and feels satisfactory. We were allowed to talk only about stuff and food that he needs to withdraw from the strike," she told journalists. Kazulin, who is serving his 5 1/2 year prison term, demanded during his strike that the UN Security Council discuss the situation in Belarus. Reuters reported on December 12 that, earlier the same day, U.S. envoy to the UN William Brencick raised the issue of Kazulin's hunger strike at a closed-door UN Security Council session in New York. Brencick's motion reportedly angered Russian Ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin, who called off the UN Security Council's planned discussion on Iran's controversial nuclear program (see also Part I above). JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/12/3-cee/cee-131206.asp