BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/03/2008

Belarusian Interior Minister Says Kazulin's Release Was Illegal

Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumau said on February 29 that the temporary release of former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin was illegal, Belapan reported. "If laws were taken into account, there were no criteria in his [Kazulin's] favor," Navumau said. "But this decision was made, and it was not just exceptional, it was contrary to laws." Kazulin, who is serving 5 1/2 years in prison for organizing events that disturbed public order following the March 2006 presidential election, was recently granted a three-day leave to attend the funeral of his wife, Iryna, who died on February 23 after a long fight with breast cancer (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 27, 28, and 29, 2008). Navumau told reporters that Kazulin and the deceased were officially divorced and thus she was not an "immediate relative," giving no grounds for the temporary release for the funeral. However, Kazulin's former lawyer, Ihar Rynkevich, said that Belarus's Family Code specifies that a person may be declared a family member of another when they have lived together for a long time. Kazulin said during his three-day leave that he formally divorced his wife and transferred all his property to her ahead of the persecution he expected after the March 2006 election. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-030308.asp

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