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EU should revise its blacklist only in response to release of political prisoners, says Belarusian Popular Front chair

The European Union should revise its blacklist of Belarusians deemed to be or have been involved in the persecution of pro-democratic activists only in response to the release of political prisoners, Alyaksey Yanukevich, chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, said at a news conference held in Minsk on Friday.

“Now that nothing is changing in the country with the Belarusian authorities refusing to take any steps to release the political prisoners or liberalize their practices, the list should not be shortened,” said Mr. Yanukevich. “If the steps are taken, there should be steps in response, including perhaps the removal of some Belarusian officials from the entry ban list.”

If all political prisoners are released, the EU, perhaps, should renounce its list altogether, he suggested.

“No one was entered there by accident,” he said. “So, one cannot claim that there were better grounds for the inclusion of one person and less credible grounds for the inclusion of another.”

The Brussels-based Office for a Democratic Belarus has suggested that the EU should revise its entry ban and assets freeze list to delete from it university rectors, blacklisted for the expulsion of students following the December 19, 2010 post-election protest, as well as Uladzimir Peftsiyew, a businessman described by the EU as Alyaksandr Lukashenka`s chief economic advisor and a key financial sponsor of his regime, and those who no longer hold posts in which they allegedly took part in the persecution of government opponents, with Alyaksandr Zimowski, the former head of the Belarusian State Television and Radio Company, among them.

Opposition politician Viktar Ivashkevich warned that the revision of the EU’s blacklist could have serious consequences. “It will be a U-turn,” he said in an interview with BelaPAN. “The revision will send the authorities a signal that they can carry on with their practices.”

The point is not about who could be withdrawn; it is about an end to the pressure on the Lukashenka regime, he said. “The move will indicate that the fight against him [Lukashenka] should be abandoned, because he is invincible.”

Mr. Ivashkevich added that pro-democratic groups campaigning for a boycott of the forthcoming House of Representatives elections, including European Belarus and the Independent Union of Electronic Industry Workers, objected to the proposal for the revision of the list. //BelaPAN