21/08/2008 Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 21.08.2008 - “I express my great satisfaction at the release of two more political prisoners in Belarus,” said PACE rapporteur Andrea Rigoni commenting on the release of Andrei Kim and Syarhei Parsyukevich, soon after the liberation of opposition leader Alexander Kozulin.
“This second wave of releases builds on that which took place earlier this year. But I call on the Belarusian authorities this time to avoid any steps backwards: there must be no more political prisoners. Rather than making sporadic progress, they should engage in a consistent course of action. They should not limit themselves to isolated steps but should engage in an irreversible process of democratic reform and respect for human rights. This will bring Belarus closer to Europe,” Mr Rigoni declared.
He also said that credible and consistent efforts undertaken by the authorities regarding political prisoners would help build the foundations for a more extensive dialogue with European organisations. However, he added that the authorities should also extend their efforts to other areas, most notably the elections and freedom of the media, bearing in mind the criticism voiced by reputable Belarusian and international observers about the pre-electoral process and the lack of pluralist information for voters.