BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
26/02/2008
Jailed politician is temporarily released in Belarus for wife's funeral
By Michael Schwirtz
MOSCOW: The authorities in Belarus have temporarily freed Aleksandr Kazulin, a jailed opposition politician who threatened to starve himself if not permitted to attend his wife's funeral.
Kazulin, who was imprisoned for leading anti-government protests shortly after presidential elections in March 2006, arrived home at about 1 a.m. Tuesday, his press service said in a statement. His wife, Irina, died Saturday of cancer.
After initially refusing his request to attend the funeral Wednesday, the government granted him a three-day furlough, after which he must return to prison to serve the rest of his five-and-a-half-year sentence.
The decision appeared partly the result of pressure by the United States and European Union on President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who in the past has openly flouted Western calls to allow greater political plurality and press freedoms, though he has recently pledged greater cooperation. The move fell short, however, of Western demands that Kazulin be permanently freed.
"It would be a breakthrough if his release is not simply for three days to attend the funeral of his wife, but if his release is unconditional," David Kramer, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said by telephone.
The United States and European Union have stipulated the release of political prisoners as one of several conditions for lifting sanctions leveled against Lukashenko and other government officials.
Despite the recent release of five people considered political prisoners by the United States along with a journalist, Kramer characterized the political situation in the country as "stagnant to slight deterioration" since the 2006 presidential elections, when the police arrested hundreds of people during several days of anti-government protests.
Kazulin, once a confidant of Lukashenko, received minimal support in the elections, but gained wide sympathy in opposition circles for a brazen anti-government march days later into a gauntlet of riot troops. He is the only major opposition figure still in prison.
Though diminished and weathered from his time in prison, Kazulin, 52, appears to have retained his defiance, accusing Lukashenko shortly after his release of neglecting the people of Belarus and of personally insulting and humiliating him.
"Enough of Lukashenko oppressing his own people," he said in an interview with Charter 97, an opposition news Web site, adding that he was prepared to sit down with the president and "discuss the future of the country."
"It's obvious that Lukashenko cannot escape from this, but he is afraid of Kazulin and does everything possible to keep him in prison," he said.
The opposition appears set to rally around Kazulin, taking advantage of his temporary release to call for demonstrations against the government. The funeral is expected to become a something of a political rally.
On Monday, news agencies reported that at least 1,000 people had gathered in central Minsk after Kazulin's daughters, Olga and Yulia, called for a show solidarity with their father.
Another major opposition figure, Aleksandr Milinkevich, called Kazulin's release "a positive step," but vowed to continue fighting to secure his permanent freedom.
"I do not believe that a dictatorship can become a democracy in one day," he said.
Source:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/26/europe/belarus.php
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