BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/12/2007

Belarusian President To Consider Pardoning Jailed Former Candidate, If Asked

President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in a December 2 interview with the Spanish daily "El Pais" that he would consider pardoning former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin if the jailed politician asks him. Kazulin, who ran in the March 2006 elections, was arrested during demonstrations that followed the polls and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for organizing events that disturbed the public order. Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumau claimed that protesters set off a bomb at the demonstration, but numerous reporters present at the scene could not confirm that claim. Lukashenka noted that Kazulin's prison term is a short one. "We have both life imprisonment and the death penalty," he said. "If he had not been a presidential candidate, he would have received 10 or 12 years, not 5 1/2, for a blast on our streets. But as an ex-candidate, he aroused some sympathy," Lukashenka added. Dzmitry Harachka, a lawyer for Kazulin, told Belapan that Kazulin has not considered asking Lukashenka to pardon him, as he does not consider himself guilty. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/12/3-cee/cee-041207.asp