PACE to demand immediate release of political prisoners in Belarus
STRASBOURG. January 27. KAZINFORM The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will discuss on Thursday the situation in Belarus after the December presidential election in the country. The resolution, which sharply criticizes the policy pursued after the election, will be submitted for consideration of European parliamentarians in the afternoon; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
The draft resolution expresses PACE concern in connection with arrests of human rights activists and oppositionists in Belarus and demands their immediate release.
It said PACE was alarmed by an unprecedented wave of violence, intimidation, mass arrests and legal prosecution of political opponents, human rights activists, reporters, students and average citizens, that followed the announcement of the election results.
It said over 600 people had been arrested, including presidential candidates, while apartments of opposition leaders, human rights activists and reporters, as well as premises of some nongovernmental organisations and media outlets had been searched.
With that in view, PACE wants to demand from official Minsk to immediately release all those people arrested for political reasons, stop prosecution and intimidation of political activists, organize a transparent investigation of an excessive use of force by police against protesters, the documents said.
The Parliamentary Assembly also insists that the Belarus authorities reverse the decision to close the OSCE office in Minsk and extend its mandate for 2011; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.
See www.itar-tass.com for full version.