BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/02/2008

Belarusian Politician Reports Back To Prison

Alyaksandr Kazulin, an imprisoned former presidential candidate who was granted a three-day leave to attend the funeral of his wife, returned on February 28 to the prison near Vitsebsk as required (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 27 and 28, 2008), Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. At a press conference arranged by Belapan just before his return to prison, Kazulin made several final assessments of his short period of freedom. He said he forgives Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka for everything. "My family forgives him for everything. Let it remain on his conscience what he has done," Kazulin said. "Whatever we may wish, Lukashenka is part of our history. And despite many sins that the present-day authorities have committed, they have a chance to pause and think." Kazulin also said that he no longer intends to go on hunger strike, arguing that his supporters who attended the wife's funeral asked him not to do so. "They came up to me, expressed their condolences, and said that I should not declare a hunger strike, as they need me to be alive," he said. Kazulin confirmed that he was offered a release from prison on condition that he leave Belarus and no longer be involved in politics. Kazulin said that German Ambassador to Belarus Gebhardt Weiss played a significant role in making this offer and was "very sincere in his intention to help." According to Kazulin, it was suggested at the highest government level that he should travel to Germany together with his family, where the best possible conditions would be offered to them. "It was unclear in what status I was to go to Germany," Kazulin said. "I was told that this matter would be settled later, and that there might be a new amnesty. They also said that I might be allowed to return after half a year or a year." However, Kazulin denied that his wife was offered treatment in Germany. Lukashenka previously announced that the authorities offered Kazulin the chance to accompany his wife for treatment to Germany, but Kazulin rejected the offer. Kazulin said he will not leave Belarus. "I will try to bear all the tribulations and hardships of our modern reality that our people are undergoing," he said. Kazulin, who ran in the March 2006 presidential election, was arrested during the subsequent antigovernment demonstrations and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for organizing events that disturbed public order. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-290208.asp

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