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EU cannot start talks with Minsk until all political prisoners are freed

The European Union cannot enter into talks with the leadership of Belarus until all political prisoners in the country are released and exonerated, Marieluise Beck, a member of Alliance '90/The Greens in the German parliament, said Thursday in a statement, commenting on the release of 11 post-election protesters on September 14 under Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s pardon edict.

Despite the good news, “the fact remains that people cannot be a subject of bargaining,” Ms. Beck said, noting that one should not tolerate the Belarusian leader’s practice of imprisoning peaceful protesters and seeking political concessions in exchange for their release.

A whole number of political prisoners, including Ales Byalyatski, Dzmitry Bandarenka, Zmitser Dashkevich, Eduard Lobaw, Andrey Sannikaw, Paval Sevyarynets, Mikalay Statkevich and Dzmitry Uss, remain in prison, noted Ms. Beck, who is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. //BelaPAN