BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/05/2007

Belarusian Authorities Release Two Political Prisoners But Refused To Free A Third

Belarusian courts on May 22 decided to release on parole opposition politician Mikalay Statkevich and opposition youth leader Pavel Sevyarynets, two and three months before their respective prison terms are due to end, Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Statkevich and Sevyarynets in May 2005 were each sentenced to three years in prison for staging a series of unauthorized demonstrations in Minsk in the fall of 2004 against the official results of the 2004 parliamentary elections and referendum, which are widely believed to have been rigged. The sentences were subsequently reduced by one year under an amnesty law. Both Statkevich and Sevyarynets believe that the authorities decided to release them ahead of schedule in order to curry favor with the EU as it considers the trade benefits Belarus receives under the bloc's Generalized System of Preferences. the EU threatened last year to suspend Belarus's benefits this coming June if Minsk fails to observe trade union rights. The suspension might cost Belarus an estimated 400 million euros ($536 million) per year. "No matter how I tried to persuade the judge and the prosecutor [on May 22] that my trial was illegal, they did not pay any attention," Sevyarynets told RFE/RL. "I made the conclusion that they had simply been ordered to free me. I link this move to the voting on the suspension of [EU trade] preferences for Belarus that is to take place soon. So, my release was a political decision and has no relation whatsoever to either justice or a law-governed state." JM

Belarus's Supreme Court on May 22 rejected an appeal from former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin, who was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in 2006 on charges widely believed to be politically motivated, Reuters and Belapan reported. Kazulin, who was arrested during a post-election opposition protest in March 2006, was found guilty of hooliganism and organizing group activities disturbing the public peace. The appeal by Kazulin, the rector of Belarusian State University from 1996-2003, can only be further examined by the prosecutor general or the chairman of the Supreme Court. Kazulin's release is a key demand by Western groups pressing for reforms in Belarus. "Kazulin's release is now linked strictly to a change of political regime in the country. By using Kazulin as an example, the court has given a stiff rebuke to any optimists hoping for some sort of liberalization," Kazulin's lawyer, Ihar Rynkevich, told journalists. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/05/3-CEE/cee-230507.asp

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