Belarusian President Lukashenko vows to release all political prisoners

[News_Editor]

Belarusian President Lukashenko vows to release all political prisoners

2011-09-03 06:49:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

MINSK (BNO NEWS) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has promised to release all protesters who were arrested during last year's presidential election, officials said on Friday.

Lukashenko is said to have announced the decision during talks with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov last week, according to RIA Novosti. "Lukashenko will release all political activists by the beginning of October as part of efforts to improve relations with the EU," Mladenov said in a letter to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

According to the letter, Lukashenko also pledged to hold regular meetings with opposition activists to discuss the future of the former Soviet state, which is gripped by a severe financial crisis and was forced to devalue its currency by 36 percent in May.

A number of protesters have already been granted amnesty following international criticism, including most recently the release of four activists on Thursday. More than 600 citizens of Belarus denouncing alleged vote-rigging were detained after a demonstration in central Minsk on December 19 following the re-election of Lukashenko, who won a fourth term in office with almost 80 percent of the vote.

Most of the detainees were charged with administrative offenses, but dozens of criminal cases were initiated over the protests, including several against former presidential candidates. Andrei Sannikov, a high-profile opposition leader and presidential contester, was given a five-year sentence on charges of organizing the December riots. He was pardoned last month, along with eight others.

Belarus' leading human rights group Vyasna, however, told RIA Novosti that the decision was just an attempt to curry favor from the EU. "This is not the first attempt to trade in political prisoners. It is called 'dialogue with the EU,'" a Vyasna spokesperson said.

"Unless changes are made to the legal system, and to its operation, we may find ourselves with another batch of political prisoners in a couple of months' time," he added.

Responding to the news that four political prisoners were released, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek welcomed the news 'very cautiously.' "Belarusian prisons are still full of opponents of the regime, civil right activists, people judged on questionable grounds by judges compromised by the regime," he said. "All political prisoners have to be unconditionally freed and returned to their families and friends. Only then will the European Union be ready to treat Belarus as a serious partner willing to pursue dialogue. Previous declarations by the Belarusian regime have proven to be void and unsupported by concrete actions. Thus, our scepticism is entirely justified."

Hundreds of people were arrested throughout Belarus in July for taking part in street protests against Lukashenko's government and its economic policies. Lukashenko also warned that no strikes or unauthorized protests would be allowed over the recently-imposed export ban on fuel and other goods.

Both the European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions to condemn the ongoing crackdown on protesters. Most recently, the United States imposed on August 11 new economic sanctions against four major Belarusian state-owned enterprises "to respond to the continued incarceration of political prisoners and crackdown on political activists, journalists and civil society representatives."

Lukashenko is often referred to as the last dictator of Europe.

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