BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

30/06/2009

Belarus Leader Pardons U.S. Lawyer

By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW -President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus on Tuesday pardoned an American lawyer at the center of a 16-month dispute between Moscow and Washington, in a push to fully restore relations between the two countries.

During a meeting with United States congressmen, Mr. Lukashenko agreed to free Emanuel E. Zeltser, who was serving a three-year sentence for industrial espionage and forgery. American diplomats protested Mr. Zeltser's mysterious arrest and closed trial, and pressed for his release on humanitarian grounds, saying he had fallen gravely ill in prison.

During the morning meeting, Mr. Lukashenko cast the pardon as a conciliatory gesture, and appealed to the United States delegation to respond by lifting three-year-old economic sanctions against Belarus.

"We are aware that the United States is a huge empire, which has interests in many parts of the planet, and we are ready to develop normal relations," Mr. Lukashenko said, according to a transcript posted on his Web site. "Why don't you want this?"

Of Mr. Zeltser, Mr. Lukashenko said, "I never thought this person could become an issue in the relations between our states. If it's very important for America and our relations, and will facilitate the normalization of relations, I will sign the decree today."

Mr. Lukashenko "could not have been more accommodating" toward his American visitors, something that has not been true in the past, said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, a member of the delegation. Mr. Cardin said the United States would lift the sanctions when Belarus shows progress in political reforms and human rights.

President George W. Bush imposed sanctions after the 2006 presidential elections, when police cracked down harshly on anti-government demonstrators. Belarus responded by expelling the U.S. ambassador and recalling its own envoy from Washington.

The pardon of Mr. Zeltser "was clearly very helpful in getting us back on track in our discussions," Mr. Cardin said. He added, "Make no mistake about it: If you're not in the government and you try to organize a campaign, you don't have a fair chance. Elections are not fair and open. People are sent to jail for opposing the government."

The decision comes as Belarus - once Moscow's most loyal post-Soviet ally - tacks sharply West. For almost a year, Mr. Lukashenko has been making moves to accommodate Western criticism, like granting amnesty to a series of political prisoners. This spring, Belarus was invited to join the European Union's Eastern Partnership, and received an additional International Monetary Fund loan of $1 billion, increasing its total pledge to $3.4 billion. Tension has been rising, meanwhile, between Belarus and Moscow, after top Russian officials criticized Mr. Lukashenko's economic policies and imposed a painful ban on imports of Belarussian dairy products. Minsk responded last month by boycotting a long-planned ceremony to introduce a joint military force between Russia and its closest allies.

Mr. Lukashenko's overtures on Tuesday fit squarely into that pattern, said a Western diplomat with knowledge of the meeting. "I do suspect a good deal of what the president said today was directed as much to Moscow as it was to Washington or Minsk," the diplomat said.

The decision brings an end to a bizarre legal case. Mr. Zeltser and his personal assistant, Vladlena Funk, were arrested at the Minsk airport on an airplane belonging to a Russian oligarch, Boris A. Berezovsky. Mr. Berezovsky has accused Mr. Zeltser of using a forged will to steal the assets of his former partner, but said he had no involvement in the arrest.

Ms. Funk, 31, said Mr. Berezovsky was the last person she saw before losing consciousness and waking up on the plane in Minsk, where she was arrested by eight agents of Belarus's Committee for State Security, or K.G.B. She was released after a year in prison, and returned to the United States in March.

"I am still trying to recover from this nightmare which happened to me," she said. "I cannot even imagine how he feels."

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/world/europe/01belarus.html?ref=global-home

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