BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/05/2007

Belarusian Opposition Leader Loses Court Appeal

May 22, 2007 -- The Belarusian Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a jailed opposition activist.

Alyaksandr Kazulin, one of two opposition figures who ran against President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in a March 2006 presidential election, was jailed for 5 1/2 years for organizing opposition marches following the vote, which was officially won by Lukashenka in a landslide.

In another case, opposition activists Pavel Sevyarynets and Mikola Statkevich were released by Belarusian authorities after serving two years in prison for organizing unauthorized anti-Lukashenka demonstrations.

(Reuters, AFP)

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/05/4635DDC6-1124-4C35-862E-296DD83A5D04.html