BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
14/02/2008
Council Of Europe Again Urges Belarus To Free Political Prisoners
Lluis Maria de Puig, the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), on February 13 reiterated the rights body's demand that Belarus release all political prisoners, including former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin, Belapan reported. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said the previous day that the authorities have released "some prisoners for whom the West has special feelings," and that he regards the issue as "closed" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 13, 2008). De Puig said that the recent release of youth activists Artur Finkevich and Zmitser Dashkevich "has not gone unnoticed," and that he hopes the move is part of "a pattern of conclusive and consistent signs that the Belarusian leadership is prepared to get closer to Europe." De Puig said he is disappointed that an amnesty law adopted by Minsk in November 2007 did not provide for the release of any political prisoners. "I am convinced that many ways can be found to give freedom back to those who are detained for their political views, amongst whom the most outstanding case is certainly former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin," de Puig said. Kazulin, who ran in the March 2006 elections, was arrested during antigovernment demonstrations that followed the polls and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for organizing events that disturbed the public order. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-140208.asp
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