BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14 June 2005

Activists Protest Sentencing Of Belarus Oppositionist

(RFE/RL) -- The International League for Human Rights has voiced concern over last week's sentencing of a leading Belarus opposition figure.

In a letter to Belarussian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the group today expressed "profound concern about the continuing repression of political freedom and human rights" because of the sentencing of Andrei Klimov.

Klimov, a 39-year-old former opposition deputy and businessman, was sentenced last Friday to spend 18 months of compulsory labor for organizing a rally to demand the resignation of Lukashenka.

Lukashenka has drawn widespread international criticism over the disappearance of opposition figures and censorship of the press. Belarus is the only east European country that does not belong to the Council of Europe, a pan-European human rights watchdog.

(AFP)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/06/e620f2d0-c83b-4f26-af61-4e34277de3ef.html