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UK minister for Europe expresses deep concern over sentencing of Sannikaw

David Lidington, minister of state for Europe at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has expressed “deep concern” over the sentencing of former presidential candidate Andrey Sannikaw (Andrei Sannikov) to a five-year prison term by a district judge in Minsk.

On May 14, Judge Natallya Chatvyartkova of the Partyzanski District Court found the 57-year-old Sannikaw guilty of “organizing mass disorder” in connection with a post-election demonstration staged in Minsk on December 19, 2010 in protest against election fraud.

The former deputy foreign minister, who led an opposition group called European Belarus, was on trial along with four post-election protesters.

One of them, Aleh Hnedchyk, was sentenced to three years and a half years in prison, and Uladzimir Yaromenak, Ilya Vasilevich and Fyodar Mirzayanaw were given three-year prison sentences.

“We have grave concerns about the treatment of Mr. Sannikov while in custody including his access to medical treatment and legal services,” Mr. Lidington said Saturday in a statement. “The conduct of his trial has marked a new low for the rule of law in Belarus. Mr. Sannikov is guilty of nothing more than the peaceful expression of his opinion about the results of December’s flawed elections.”

“Our thoughts are with Mr. Sannikov’s family and with the families of his co-defendants in this trial… and with so many other families being deprived of their loved ones through politically motivated trials,” Mr. Lidington said. “We once more call on Belarus to cease its self-imposed isolation and to move into conformity with basic international standards of justice and human rights.” //BelaPAN