BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
13/03/2008
U.S. Official Says Relations With Belarus Deteriorated Over Kazulin Case
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs David Kramer told Belapan on March 12 that relations between Washington and Minsk have rapidly deteriorated due to "the unwillingness of the Belarusian government to release Alyaksandr Kazulin." Kazulin, who ran in the March 2006 presidential elections, was arrested during antigovernment demonstrations that followed the polls and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for organizing events that disturbed the public order. Kramer said that the U.S. government expanded its visa ban list targeting Belarusian officials and introduced the sanctions against Belnaftakhim last year in response to the Belarusian government's failure to release political prisoners. According to Kramer, U.S. and Belarusian officials were in negotiations about Kazulin's release up until March 5. On March 6, the U.S. Treasury Department posted on its website "a further clarification of the sanctions we imposed on Belnaftakhim," which might have been regarded by the Belarusian authorities as an extension of sanctions. "The release of five prisoners before, as well as [journalist Alyaksandr] Zdvizhkou, who was not on the original list but whose case we certainly raised with authorities in Minsk, was a positive step," Kramer said. "We have made clear to the government in Minsk that in order to begin the process of improvement in relations we had to see the release of all political prisoners, not simply five out of six," he said. Kramer added that with Kazulin's potential release, "Belarus would pave the way, would open the path for discussion about improved relations between Belarus and the West, not just with the United States but [also] with the European Union." AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-130308.asp
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