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Head of pro-government writers' union appeals to UN Human Rights Committee over EU blacklist

The leader of the pro-government Union of Writers of Belarus has sent an appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee and the European Commission protesting the European Union's travel sanctions targeting scores of Belarusian individuals.

Mr. Charhinets, 73, is among the 175 people who have been placed on the European Union's entry ban list for their part in the Belarusian government's crackdown on political opponents.

In his appeal, the former police general and lawmaker describes the travel sanctions as unlawful and violating the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In an interview with BelaPAN, Mr. Charhinets said that the European Union had been misled by a "small group of Belarusian citizens who attempt to take power not with the help of their talent, work, knowledge and active participation in the people's creative work but through blackmail, defamation against society, which has a condescending attitude to the fact that the group is reluctant to either work or act in the name of its people."

He noted that the sanctions were the result of government opponents "settling scores" with the Belarusian authorities.

Mr. Charhinets noted that he could not be involved in alleged vote fraud or the crackdown on an anti-government protest staged in Minsk on December 19, 2010.

The staunch ally of Alyaksandr Lukashenka called on the Belarusian authorities and the European Union to engage in a "calm dialogue and look for ways of uniting rather than separating the peoples."