BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

29/04/2008

Lukashenko: Belarus won't release political prisoners

The Associated Press

MINSK, Belarus: The authoritarian president of Belarus said Tuesday the country won't release imprisoned political figures early, despite pressure from the United States and Western Europe.

Washington and the West already have imposed various sanctions on Belarus to try to force the release of people it considers political prisoners, and the United States has threatened further sanctions. Belarus this year has released a handful of political figures from detention early.

But President Alexander Lukashenko said in his annual address to parliament that "we have closed the topic of political prisoners. He added "If the Americans introduce new sanctions and think we will collapse, that's rubbish."

Lukashenko, in office since 1994, is an open admirer of the Soviet Union and has been described by Washington as "the last dictator in Europe."

He has cracked down sharply on opposition and independent news media, along with goading the United States by cultivating close relations with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Lukashenko also told Belarus' Parliament that he was opposed to establishing a government commissioner for human rights.

"Even without a commissioner we guarantee a person's right to life, the right to have work, pay and to feed his family," he said.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/29/europe/EU-GEN-Belarus-Lukashenko.php

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