BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/04/2006

EU urges release of Belarusian opposition members

The European Union (EU) voiced dismay on Thursday at the arrests of several key members of Belarusian opposition, and called for their immediate release.

"I call for the immediate release of all those arrested and detained because of their opinions," said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood policy, in a statement.

The opposition members she named included Aleksandr Milinkevich, Belarus' main opposition leader, and Vintsuk Vyachorka, Sergei Kalyakin and Aleksandr Bukhvostov.

Milinkevich, who ran unsuccessfully in the country's presidential election in March, was detained earlier on Thursday and a Minsk court sentenced him to 15 days in jail for taking part in an unauthorized demonstration the day before.

Fellow oppositionists Communist leader Sergei Kalyakin and Labor Party leader Alexander Bukhvostov were given similar " administrative arrest" sentences, to be served at police departments rather than in jail.

"We will continue to watch developments in Belarus extremely closely," Ferrero-Waldner added.

Earlier on Thursday, Ferrero-Waldner's spokeswoman suggested the EU could impose new sanctions against the country, but she did not elaborate.

The EU extended on April 10 its visa ban list from six to 37 Belarusian politicians after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe dismissed the March 19 presidential poll as unfair.

That election saw Belarusian incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko reelected to a third term with 83 percent of the vote. But the opposition claimed the poll was rigged, and pledged to continue protests.

The Belarusian opposition organized an anti-government protest in Minsk on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster on Wednesday, and Milinkevich addressed the rally.

Source: Xinhua

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/200604/28/eng20060428_261828.html