English

Milinkevich urges EU not to restore relations with Minsk until release of all opposition figures

Alyaksandr Milinkevich, leader of the Movement for Freedom, has petitioned top European Union officials not to restore relations with the Belarusian authorities until all people arrested following the opposition’s post-election street protest are released.

The petition has been sent to Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council; Catherine Ashton, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy; and Stefan Fule, the EU commissioner for enlargement and the European Neighborhood Policy.

“Despite certain progress in the atmosphere of the campaign, serious violations of international standards were reported during vote count. The Belarusian authorities did not secure a fair and transparent election process,” Mr. Milinkevich says in his petition.

Mr. Milinkevich, who ran for president in the 2006 election, has accused the Belarusian authorities of using force disproportionately during the dispersal of the street protest in Independence Square in Minsk on December 19. “They arrested more than 600 pro-democratic activists, journalists and five presidential candidates, who are held in the KGB jail. Twenty-two leaders and activists of the opposition face up to 15 years in prison,” the petition says.

The opposition politician urges the EU to express solidarity with the arrested people and demand their immediate release and an impartial inquiry into the brutal crackdown on the protest.

Mr. Milinkevich suggests that the EU stop all contacts with Minsk until the release of all of the arrested people and also Mikalay Awtukhovich, a Vawkavysk businessman who was imprisoned earlier this year in a case that many say was revenge for his criticism of government corruption.

A new plan of cooperation between Belarus and the EU should not be tied exclusively to elections, Mr. Milinkevich writes in the letter. “It may envisage the improvement of the environment for NGOs, parties and media outlets, as well as foreign aid,” he says.

He stresses that the EU should press for the Belarusian authorities to give all candidates in the 2012 parliamentary elections access to vote count.