BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

15/05/2008

Belarusian opposition leader rejects official offer of freedom on condition he emigrates

MINSK, Belarus (AP) - A Belarusian opposition leader said in a letter from prison released Thursday that authorities had offered to free him if he agrees to emigrate.

Alexander Kozulin said in a letter released by his family that he had rejected the proposal, as accepting it would be like Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko had said recently that Kozulin was offered a chance to leave the country.

Kozulin was arrested during a protest after challenging Lukashenko in the 2006 presidential election, which the United States and other Western countries dismissed as illegitimate.

The 52-year-old opposition leader was convicted of organizing mass protests and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in a high-security prison.

Authorities released Kozulin for three days in February so he could attend his wife's funeral after their initial refusal triggered a wave of international protest.

The U.S. and other Western countries have introduced travel and economic sanctions against the Belarusian government, had demand that Lukashenko's government free all political prisoners and end its crackdown on dissent.

Source:

http://www.pr-inside.com/belarusian-opposition-leader-rejects-official-r591593.htm

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