BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/03/2008

Belarusian Activists, EU Commisioner Condemn Crackdown On Demonstrators

Belarusian opposition politician Alyaksandr Milinkevich condemned the police crackdown on demonstrators who gathered on March 25 in central Minsk to mark the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of the Belarusian People's Republic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 26, 2008), Belapan reported. "Absolutely peaceful people with flowers took to the streets.... But they were beaten up, hauled into dark corners so that the press could not see abuses," Milinkevich said. According to Ales Bylyatski, head of the Vyasna Human Rights Center, police detained around 100 demonstrators. Belarusian Interior Minister Uladzimir Navumau has confirmed that 88 protesters were detained and that during their arrest some of them were injured. "They [the authorities] only played democracy in hope to get money from the West, but they remained the same under the surface," Milinkevich said. Belarusian Popular Front leader Lyavon Barshcheuski, one of the demonstration's organizers, said that there was no reason for its violent dispersal by riot police. "The demonstrators' actions were absolutely peaceful," he said. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that "it is unacceptable that peaceful demonstrators, including journalists, were reportedly arrested and some subjected to violent treatment." She continued: "I am all the more dismayed by these events, since we had recently seen some more positive actions by the Belarusian authorities: the release of five out of six of the internationally recognized political prisoners, suspension of the court case against the Belarus Helsinki Committee, and the final steps paving the way for the opening of an [European Commission] delegation in Minsk." "The Belarusian authorities must understand that the positive momentum created by these acts needs to be confirmed if we are to engage in a full partnership. The final release of all political prisoners, including Alyaksandr Kazulin, and the end of harassment of civil society are concrete steps that could progressively open the way for a normalization of our relations," Ferrero-Waldner added. AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/03/3-cee/cee-270308.asp

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