BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
25/02/2008
EU urges Minsk to let jailed opposition figure attend funeral
(BRUSSELS) - The EU's external relations commissioner appealed to Belarus authorities on Monday to release jailed opposition figure Alexander Kozulin and allow him to attend his wife's funeral.
"I hope and I would appreciate this as an important signal, that the Belarus authorities will let Mr Kozulin attend tomorrow's funeral in Minsk," EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
Kozulin, who is serving a five-and-a-half-year term for public order offences, declared a hunger strike Sunday after prison authorities denied his request to attend the funeral.
"I once again urge the Belarus authorities to release Mr Kozulin. Putting an end to the practice of detaining citizens on political grounds in Belarus would be a significant step on the Belarusian side," Ferrero-Waldner said.
"I offer my condolences to Mr Kozulin and his close ones on the occasion of the passing away of Mrs Kozulina," she added.
Kozulin, the opposition candidate in Belarus's 2006 election, has accused the country's authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko of being responsible for his wife's death.
Belarus has seen a series of demonstrations in recent weeks against the leadership of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The country has been branded by the United States as Europe's "last dictatorship."
Source:
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1203952625.52
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