European Union Demands Immediate Release Of Political Prisoners From Lukashenka Regime
- 21.01.2023, 22:10
The document was approved at a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
At a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on January 18, a number of European countries that are members of the European Union made a statement on the human rights situation in Belarus. Representatives of many other countries also signed the document, according to the Viasna human rights center.
The statement underlines the grave concern about the difficult situation, which tends to worsen further, with human rights in Belarus under the Lukashenka regime.
“We call on the Minsk authorities to immediately release each of the political prisoners. Those illegally and unjustly deprived of their liberty include Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, who has been imprisoned since July 2021, and other Viasna leaders, whose trial began on January 5 and threatens the defendants with 7 to 12 years in prison,” say the signatory countries of the document.
Of particular concern is the amendment to the Criminal Code adopted by the “house of representatives” in the first reading, which introduces an even greater possibility of applying the death penalty for “high treason” in the context of increased political repression in Belarus.
The European Union also strongly condemns repressions against the democratic opposition, human rights activists, journalists, as well as representatives of national minorities, and calls on the Belarusian authorities to fulfill their country's international obligations and obligations within the UN and OSCE.
Representatives of the EU countries also condemned the actions of the regime in Minsk, aimed at supporting the barbaric Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the renewal of attempts to cynically and forcibly use migrants to create a crisis situation on the borders of the EU.
The European Union “remains supportive of the people of Belarus, and will continue to support its civil society and its legitimate aspirations to achieve European standards of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”