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European Parliament president denounces prison sentences for ex-candidates Statkevich, Uss

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek on Thursday denounced prison sentences imposed on former presidential candidates Mikalay Statkevich and Dzmitry Uss over a post-election protest staged in Minsk on December 19, 2010.

Messrs. Statkevich and Uss were sentenced to six and five-and-a-half years, respectively, in a medium-security correctional institution by a judge of the Leninski District Court in Minsk. They were found guilty of organizing "mass disorder" during the protest.

In his statement, Mr. Buzek described the sentencing of the politicians as evidence of the "unfairness of the judicial system in Belarus."

"These opposition leaders should be supported, not convicted," he said. "They are standing up for a free and democratic Belarus. They stand against a Belarus where power is held in the hands of one man and his regime."

Mr. Buzek called for the "immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience." "The European Parliament always stands on the side of the Belarusian people," he noted.

Referring to the European Parliament's May 12 resolution, Mr. Buzek said that the Parliament "strongly condemns" all convictions over the post-election protest as "arbitrary and politically motivated."

"We condemn the lack of respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of assembly and of expression shown by the Belarusian authorities, and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all protestors still in custody and for all charges against them to be dropped," the statement said. //BelaPAN